How the RACS exams are marked
Each RACS exam turns your answers into a pass in its own way. Knowing how it is marked, and how much time each question gets, changes how you should answer.
Generic Surgical Sciences Examination
How it is passed: You need the minimum score in each of anatomy, pathology and physiology as well as the overall minimum; failing any one fails the exam.
On the clock: Exam 1 · Anatomy: 80 questions in 2 h 30 min, about 113 seconds each. Exam 2 · Pathology and Physiology: 125 questions in 2 h 30 min, about 72 seconds each.
Fellowship Examination – General Surgery
How it is passed: Each question is marked pass or fail; a clear pass is 18 of 25 spots and 6 of 8 short answers. Fail both papers and you cannot sit the clinicals that sitting.
On the clock: 33 questions in 4 h 20 min: about 8 minutes each.
How it is passed: The exam has 7 equally weighted segments (2 papers, 3 vivas, 2 clinicals): pass all 7 to pass, 5–6 goes to the Specialty Court, 3 or more failed is a fail.
On the clock: 1 × operative surgery viva: 30 min. 1 × pathophysiology, critical care and clinical reasoning viva: 40 min. 1 × clinical imaging and applied anatomy viva: 32 min. 2 × clinical 1: medium cases: 15 min. 5 × clinical 2: short cases: 8 min.
What that means for how you answer
Single-best-answer papers reward the best option for this patient, not a true statement. Read the last line of the stem first, and do not let one hard question eat the time of three easy ones.
Written answers are marked against a fixed list of points. A point you do not write earns nothing, however obvious it seemed; a long answer that misses the points earns nothing more.
Clinical stations are marked against a station guide. Do what the task asks, in the time given, and say your reasoning out loud so the examiner can credit it.
Where marks are most often lost
- Describing what you would look for instead of stating what you found, including the key negatives (e.g. "I would examine the hernial orifices" rather than "the femoral and inguinal orifices are clear").
- Answering a neighbouring question: giving the workup when asked for immediate management, or the operation when asked for the indications.
- Deferring the decision ("I would discuss with my consultant", "I would refer") when the examiner wants what you, as the consultant, would do.
Pass marks and formats change. Always confirm the current rules on the RACS website before you sit.
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