FRCS part II

General Tips

It is a fair exam. You will have gained a lot of knowledge you need to pass part II throughout your training. Although that is not very helpful to hear when you are reading this it is true that some intensive study in the period from passing part I until sitting part II can go along way.

I needed to do a fair amount of work learning basic sciences in the run-up to part II to be able to converse about the key topics. For this I used Ramachandran some of the chapters are well written. Some of the orthopaedic basic science is a bit like GCSE science in that it is simplified to the point that it can seem a bit distorted – don’t get too bogged down by it.

The Quen Tang videos are amazing for increasing your understanding of topics and are a must for all. You are unlikely to be able to answer questions in such an elegant manner. And will not be given much time to answer each question. In my exam the questions were short and punchy. I was asked to draw one thing and I couldn’t. Drawing did not make up a large part of my exam experience.

I went on the Postgraduate Orthopaedics Revision course in January before sitting part II in February and I could not recommend it more highly. Book early to ensure you get on the viva and clinical examination sections as a candidate rather than an observer (spaces are limited).

The Post Graduate Orthopaedic ‘Candidates guide to the FRCS (Tr & Orth) examination’ and ‘Viva guide for the FRCS (Tr & Orth) examination’ are excellent resources for part II. They are very detailed and the example answers are in my opinion far more than you will be able to recall.

I knew Miller so well for part I that I did use it a little for part II. The Nev Davies slides were also excellent to use in the last 10 days before the exam.

The exam itself goes very quickly. The examiners asked me quite specific questions which often require short answers.

Quoting papers: I learnt quite a few papers as I thought this might be a strategy to impress examiners and score well. There were very few opportunities to quote literature and on the one occasion that I did quote a paper the examiner was not interested. Instead what they are looking for is higher-order thinking i.e. the ability to apply basic concepts in order to solve complex problems.