A thread on Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons with information that I got from a classmate who is—or, to be more precise was a former—Fellow of the RCS of UK.
I hope it will be of use at least to South Asian doctors who aim to be Fellows.
I hope it will be of use at least to South Asian doctors who aim to be Fellows.
There are 4 Royal Colleges of Surgeons. RCS of England, RCS of Edinburgh, RCS of Glasgow and RCS of Ireland. All 4 are completely independent of each other. Of the 4 the most respected and popular among UK doctors are England and Ireland as they are the toughest to get into.
During 1995 to 2000 there was a large influx of Indian doctors taking up the PLAB test.
In this period the pass percentage of PLAB was less than 20%
(I personally know many friends who took multiple attempts, some as many as five, to clear the test). gmc-uk.org/registration-a…
In this period the pass percentage of PLAB was less than 20%
(I personally know many friends who took multiple attempts, some as many as five, to clear the test). gmc-uk.org/registration-a…
By year 2000 there were more overseas graduates, especially Indians, passing at a high rate and this even led to getting a chair in Royal college (which some equated to getting a chief minister’s post in India at that time).
This was seen as a threat by the old monks who ruled the Royal College. That one Indian remains the only one who has been given a chair in the Royal College so far.
Scottish colleges were usually second fiddle. Most graduates who could pass in England and Ireland could easily pass from Edinburgh and Glasgow. This led to intercollegiate politics.
So it was decided to club all four and do a common test under the name MRCS - Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (UK) since 2004. When this happened Royal college of Glasgow was cash strapped and the other three colleges had to share their revenue with Glasgow.
During this time General Medical Council which normally conducts PLAB exam only four times a year started conducting four times a week and started making million of pounds a year through Indian doctors.
Glasgow adopted the same plan and tried to introduce MRCS in all the commonwealth countries around the world. But this became successful only India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. In fact India contributed heavily to their revenue and we are keeping them happy.
Australia and New Zealand rejected this exam. The Royal College needed large number of examiners so honorary FRCS were given based on academic background and not on surgical skills or the requirement to appear in exams.
Now for the brutal truth:
1) You can’t work with this degree in the UK, if you want to work you have to start from CRRI (internship / house surgeon) level after taking PLAB.
1) You can’t work with this degree in the UK, if you want to work you have to start from CRRI (internship / house surgeon) level after taking PLAB.
2) You have to keep paying an annual “subscription” fee of ₹25,000 to the Royal College or else your fellowship is cancelled.
3)You can certainly get a job in the Middle East with this FRCS, but unless you have a British or American passport your salary is only 50%.
3)You can certainly get a job in the Middle East with this FRCS, but unless you have a British or American passport your salary is only 50%.
4) Without practically doing even an I&D (a minor daycare surgical procedure) you can pass FRCS.
5) Medical Council of India does not recognise these as postgraduate qualifications for academic teaching jobs in India.
5) Medical Council of India does not recognise these as postgraduate qualifications for academic teaching jobs in India.
I’ll end with my classmate’s words. “When I realised all this, I came back to India, did a post graduation in orthopaedic surgery, stopped paying annual subscription to the Royal College(s), put up only my Indian PG degree and started practising.” /end
