Best Option to Get MRCS Training in India

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The Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (MRCS) is an intercollegiate examination conducted for surgical doctors to become Royal Colleges of Surgeons (RCS) members in the UK.If you aspire to specialize as a surgeon in India, this article is for you.

Many surgeons from India take up the exam to qualify for the UK’s RCS membership to practice in the UK or pursue medical speciality training. These days, passing the MRCS exams has become vital in a surgeon’s career in India. It grants access to surgical positions and education in the UK, Singapore, and Middle Eastern countries and also adds elite professional recognition to their qualification.

One also has to understand that it is a recognized and in-demand qualification in the private Indian medical space that is increasingly common for employment and healthy compensation.With so many apparent benefits, there seems to be no reason not to qualify for this exam. So what is the best option to get training for the MRCS exam in India? Let us explore just that in this article.

Embarking on a fellowship in general surgery in India offers aspiring surgeons invaluable hands-on experience and specialized training to excel in their medical careers.

The Demand for Surgeons in India

An important reason why many and you should also opt for surgery is the demand for surgeons in India is high because there is a massive shortage of surgeons in India. In India, primary health centers only fill up to 16% with surgeons, and there is an 84% shortage, close to 5,000 surgeons.

Adding salt to the wound is that surgeons are mostly concentrated in urban areas, which leaves the masses in rural areas vulnerable and underserved. Thus, surgeons are pivotal in serving and tending to the needy in the country and can benefit from this demand.

Why Is MRCS a Better Route to Surgery?

Many MS aspirants choosing to pursue an MS degree face many roadblocks to enrolling and completing an MS degree in India. One has to clear NEET PG and hope and pray that they get a seat, beating out thousands upon thousands of other candidates. They also have to pay exorbitant fees to get on with their education.

MRCS training, on the other hand, is a much more straightforward approach to surgery. Candidates enroll in specialty MRCS training and prepare themselves. They gain all the necessary knowledge and training to ace the exams. Once done, they appear for the MRCS exam, and upon clearing it, they are highly qualified surgeons ready to serve the masses. Simple, right? Now, let us have a detailed look at the exam.

Best Option to Get MRCS Training in India

Passing the MRCS exam is not an easy task. It requires extensive training. Taking MRCS training has become mandatory for the aspirants to get through the exams with ease.

In association with the University of Central Nicaragua, Texila American University (TAU) offers MRCS training via its unique three-year structured training program explicitly designed to train candidates to clear Royal College exams.

This program helps doctors build on their existing skills, knowledge, and experience and perfect mastery in varied specializations’ clinical and service aspects. TAU involves Royal College-certified trainers to prepare students for the MRCS exams. This training in a real-time learning environment ensures that candidates have the best chance of success.

Why Should You Take up an MRCS Training at TAU?

Preparing for the MRCS is a serious commitment. If you have decided to attempt the MRCS exams, you should seriously consider MRCS training. So, what will TAU’s MRCS training get you?

• A proper hospital-based hands-on teaching that allows for a better understanding of scenarios and handling them in real-time
• A training schedule that helps candidates gain adequate exposure by rotations in departments as per Royal College standards
• Candidates guided by Royal College certified trainers and senior consultants to provide appropriate insights into various areas of surgery
• Live webinar sessions by Royal College certified faculties informing on various developments and critical concepts in surgery
• Assignment and review of contemporary articles in the concerned subject to further enhance one’s understanding
• Proper exposure and revision with the leading question banks based on Royal College exam preparation

Everything You Need to Know About MRCS Exam

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh allows the examination at various locations throughout the UK and internationally. The exam consists of two parts that need to be qualified: Part A and Part B.

• Part-A
  The MRCS Part A exam is intended to test a candidate’s knowledge after a year or two of exposure in the field. The exam is intercollegiate, which means that it is common to all the Royal Surgeon Colleges (Edinburgh, Glasgow, England, and Ireland).
  Exam Format
  The Intercollegiate MRCS Part-A is a five-hour multiple-choice question (MCQ) exam consisting of two papers that are taken on the same day. It is also important to note that question papers are the same across all the examination centers and are held simultaneously.
  The exam employees single-best-answer MCQs, and the question papers cover applied knowledge and generic surgical sciences, including the core knowledge in all the specialties as follows:
  • Paper 1: It focuses on applied basic science
  • Paper 2: General principles of surgery

The combined marks for both the papers are then given as a total score for the Part A exam.

To clear the MRCS Part-A exam, the candidate must prove a minimum competence level in both papers. This exam, in addition to achieving or exceeding the pass mark set for Part A’s combined total score.

• Part B
  The MRCS part-B Intercollegiate exam (OSCE) blends basic surgical scientific knowledge and its applicability to clinical surgery. Its objective is to develop on the test of proficiency in Part A and evaluate how this is implemented in clinically suitable contexts. This review is conducted through a series of stations that simulate elements of day-to-day clinical practice.
  By choosing to attend the MRCS Part-B exam, you will be among a membership network of approximately nearly 25,000 professionals in over 100 countries worldwide. Apart from an elite membership, the college also empowers its members with a wide range of membership services to further support and further develop your career. 
  Exam Benefits
  Upon passing both parts of the MRCS exam, one can be confident that he/she can prove that they possess the right skills, knowledge, and attributes to perform basic training and even progress to higher surgical specialist training levels.
  Exam Format
  The Part-B MRCS intercollegiate exams is an OSCE. The exam also consists of nearly twenty stations lasting ten minutes each to clear. There are two preparation stations followed by eighteen examining stations where the exam candidates are given one minute preparation time. In each of the 18 stations, candidates are given instructions that briefly outline the scenario and the task.
  The stations are divided into two testing components:
• • Applied Knowledge – These stations consist of scenarios that test the candidate’s knowledge of surgical pathology, anatomy, applied surgical science, and critical care
• • Applied Skills—These stations, on the other hand, have scenarios that test the candidates’ communication skills in taking histories, giving and receiving information, and clinical and procedural skills.

Candidates must pass both the skill and knowledge components to pass Part B of the MRCS exams.

MRCS Exams in India

Many surgeons in India are looking to get their crack at the exam and are looking for useful MRCS exam preparation. Though available in abundance, many MRCS Study guides on offer for the MRCS exam preparation often do not reveal the whole picture.

Prepare comprehensively for the MRCS exam by enrolling in MRCS Clinical Training, where you’ll gain the essential skills and knowledge required to excel in the examination.

So, if you are looking to attempt the MRCS exams in India, here is a more comprehensive yet straightforward guide to doing it. This guide is only applicable to those pursuing or graduated with an MS degree or MRCS training as some basic knowledge and training are required to attempt the exam.

• Part A: The first crucial step of the plan is to register yourself for the Part-A exam. The exam is conducted three times a year January, April, and September (Subjected to change in recent time due to COVID-19). To do this, register yourself in the MRCS portal and pay the exam fee of £550.
  • Study: Essential Revision Notes for Intercollegiate MRCS parts 1 & 2, SBA MCQs and EMQs for the MRCS Part A Pack: 2 (Oxford Specialty Training: Revision Texts), and MRCS Part A: 500 SBAs and EMQs by Pradip K Datta (Editor), Christopher JK Bulstrode (Editor) and more books on the basics. Qualify.
• • Study: Essential Revision Notes for Intercollegiate MRCS parts 1 & 2, SBA MCQs and EMQs for the MRCS Part A Pack: 2 (Oxford Specialty Training: Revision Texts), and MRCS Part A: 500 SBAs and EMQs by Pradip K Datta (Editor), Christopher JK Bulstrode (Editor) and more books on the basic. Qualify.
• Part-B: Upon clearing part A of the exams, you will be eligible for part B. Register for this exam in the same way you did for part A and pay £930 for the exam fees. This exam is where your clinical training will come in handy.
  • Study: Read up on the following and more books. DrExam Part B MRCS OSCE Revision Guide – by B. H. Miranda, K. Asaad, S. P. Kay, DrExam Part B MRCS OSCE Revision Guide – by B. H. Miranda, K. Asaad, P. E. M. Butler, OSCEs for the MRCS Part B A Bailey & Love Revision Guide – Jonathan Fishman, Vivian A Elwell, Rajat Chowdhury
    • For Anatomy
      MRCS Part B OSCE: Anatomy by Jeremy Lynch, Susan Shelmerdine, Vishy Mahadevan, Get Through MRCS: Anatomy 2E (GTH) by Simon Overstall, Amit Zaveri, Clinical Anatomy: Applied Anatomy for Students and Junior Doctors by Harold Ellis, Vishy Mahadevan.
    • For Physiology and Critical Care
      Applied Surgical Physiology Vivas by Mazyar Kanani, Martin Elliott, Surgical Critical Care Vivas by Mazyar Kanani.

We hope that MRCS aspirants now have a better idea and the best option to train for MRCS exams in India. Good luck!