Abstract
Successful completion of the Intercollegiate Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (MRCS) examination is mandatory for surgical trainees entering higher specialist training in the United Kingdom. Despite its international reputation, and the value placed on the examination in surgical training, there has been little evidence of its predictive validity until recently. In this review, we present a summary of findings of four recent Intercollegiate studies assessing the predictive validity of the MRCS Part A (written) examination. Data from all four studies showed statistically significant positive correlations between the MRCS Part A and other written examinations taken by surgical trainees over the course of their education. The studies summarised in this review provide compelling evidence for the predictive validity of this gatekeeping examination. This review will be of interest to trainees, training institutions and the Royal Colleges given the value placed on the examination by surgical training programmes.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 323-330 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | The Surgeon |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 6 |
Early online date | 4 Aug 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2023 |
Bibliographical note
AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to acknowledge Iain Targett at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and Gregory Ayre from the Intercollegiate Committee for Basic Surgical Examinations for their support during this project.
Funding
Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Royal College of Surgeons of England and Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Award/Grant number is not applicable).
Keywords
- MRCS
- Postgraduate
- Validity
- Training
- Education