The Primary FRCA is a postgraduate examination in anaesthesia, more fully called the Primary Examination of the Diploma of Fellowship of the British

Royal College of Anaesthetists The Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA) is the professional body responsible for the specialty of anaesthesia throughout the United Kingdom. It sets standards in anaesthesia, critical care, pain management, and for the training of anaest ...

(RCoA). Trainee anaesthetists in the United Kingdom are required to pass this examination before applying for Higher Specialist Training (a Specialist Registrar post) in Anaesthesia. With the introduction of MMC in August 2007, the Primary FRCA will become a requirement for application to Specialist Training Year 3, known generally as ST3.

Entrance requirements

Any medically trained person registered with the

General Medical Council The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public" by c ...

(GMC) with at least one year of specialist RCoA training. The cost of the MCQ element is £305 with the OSCE and Viva Voce exams costing £555 for both. Applicants are only allowed four attempts at the primary FRCA.

Syllabus

The Primary FRCA examination syllabus covers: * Anatomy * Physiology *Clinical Anaesthesia *

Pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

* Physics *Anaesthetic Equipment *Clinical Measurement * Pathology *Practical Anaesthetic Skills *

Resuscitation Resuscitation is the process of correcting physiological disorders (such as lack of breathing or heartbeat) in an acutely ill patient. It is an important part of intensive care medicine, anesthesiology, trauma surgery and emergency medicine. W ...

Statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

Form of the examination

The examination takes the form of a Multiple Choice Question paper and, for candidates successful in this, an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and Viva Voce (oral) examination. Successful Candidates are informed the same day, after the OSCE and Viva exams. The examination is held three times a year, with the MCQ being held in regional centres around the UK (e.g. London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Belfast and Sheffield) and the OSCE/Viva being held at Churchill House, the College headquarters in London. Only those candidates who clearly pass the MCQ are invited to participate in the OSCE/Viva.

Marking Scheme

Each quarter of the examination is marked as follows: *2: pass. *1: borderline. *0: fail. To pass the examination overall, the minimum mark is 37 out of 48 (maximum of 2 per question, 12 questions, 2 examiners) .

Membership

Completion of this exam, in conjunction with at least 12 months of specialist training in the UK, leads to the award of the post-nominal letters MRCA. Usage is restricted to those no longer in a Specialty Training post.

References