MEMBERSHIP ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS (MRCS)

"We have no room for hope. We plan and we act. Hope is for dreamers and poets. We have our will and our weapons and we will dictate our own fate" 

MRCS is a post-graduate diploma.
It is not a specialist qualification. It was never meant to be as such. Earning it entitles you to add an MRCS (Edinburgh/Glasgow/England/Ireland) to your MD/MBBS.

In the UK it means you are qualified to enter specialist training. 
In Malaysia it means you are committed to do surgery. You will have a higher chance to join Masters of Surgery even though you are more junior than your competitors. If you get Masters of Surgery UKM and UIA, you are exempted from the infamous part 1 exam (considered by some as the most difficult part in Masters, compulsory after 10 months of enrolment, will be explained in a later post). If you sit for Masters in other universities, you still have to sit for part 1.

What are other advantages of the MRCS? Migration to the UK (possible but difficult to get into a training post), Singapore (will be explained later), Brunei (as a Senior Medical Officer Grade II) and Middle East countries.

However in both places (UK or Malaysia), you are a Medical Officer. In the other places stated above, your grade varies but a Medical Officer more or less.

This page was meant to educate Surgical Trainees in general, from Malaysia in particular. So the next following content will be tapered accordingly.

MRCS now has 2 parts only, A and B. 
Part A is a written test of Single Best Answer (SBAs), 135 questions for 2 hours, followed by a rest-period of 1 hour, then another 135 questions of Multiple Extending Questions.

Part B is now changed into an OSCE based clinical examination, where you will have 20 OSCE stations, 10 minutes per station.

In Malaysia, there are only 2 centres who have their exams here: Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh and Ireland.

Ireland exams will mainly be in Penang, and Edinburgh exams will mainly be in Kuala Lumpur. Level of difficulty is the same, and the exam is difficult. If you take part A from Edinburgh, you can attempt part B in Ireland, or if you are willing to go all the way to UK, you may also register for Glasgow and England, and vice versa. The only restriction is you cannot sit for both papers like the old times. 

Sometimes you see old-time consultants having more than 1 MRCS in their name, because during their time they allow you to register and sit for multiple exams at the same time. Now, no more.

Cost wise is 490++ British Pounds  for part A and 960++ British pounds for part B. Edinburgh uses British Pounds, and Ireland uses Euro as their respective trade currency. So, it would be wise at times to check the currency exchange.

In the part B,
Ireland examiners will include a few local examiners from Penang Hospital and Penang College of Medicine, and Edinburgh examiners will include a few local examiners from College of Surgeons, Malaysia, and UKM.

It is divided into 2 main categories, assessing Knowledge (Anatomy, Surgical Pathology, Critical Care, Physiology) and Skills (Communication, Basic Procedures, Clinical Examinations, History taking sessions). You fail one category, you fail the exam. Roughly half of the stations are to assess knowledge, the other half assessing skills.

Patients for the clinical examination are mainly locals. I have never seen they place a foreigner there before, despite being told that they might do so. Anatomy may include everything, even Orthopedics. The models used to ask you will be plastic models. You will need to show them the anatomy parts. Show with your fingers, not tell.

How to register and check your results?
Via the college website:
rcsed.ac.uk
rcsie.ac.uk

Check on the examinations segment and look hard for MRCS.