ArticleBJS open2019
Prediction of success at UK Specialty Board Examinations using the mandatory postgraduate UK surgical examination.
Article in BJS open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Differential attainment within medical education: a systematic review.BMC medical education · 2025Pooled it
- The repeated exam failure might affect further underachievement of MD students, especially first-year females - the single-centre observation based on selected yearlong courses.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Fellowship of the European Board of Surgery in the specialty of Minimally Invasive Surgery (F.E.B.S./MIS): a continuous evaluation.Surgical endoscopy · 2025Article
- Differential attainment in UK postgraduate medical examinations: examining the relationship between sociodemographic differences and examination performance.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Differential attainment at national selection for higher surgical training: a retrospective cohort study.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Preparing for success in final summative medical specialist examinations: The case for RACE.BMC medical education · 2023Article
- Does medical education reform change who is selected? A national cross-sectional survey from China.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Differential attainment at MRCS according to gender, ethnicity, age and socioeconomic factors: a retrospective cohort study.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2022Article
- The impact of disability on performance in a high-stakes postgraduate surgical examination: a retrospective cohort study.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2022Article
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- Predictors of performance on the pediatric board certification examination.BMC medical education · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: While performance in other mandatory examinations taken at the beginning of a doctor's career are predictive of final training outcomes, the influence early postgraduate surgical examinations might have on success at Specialty Board Exams in the UK is currently unknown. The aim was to investigate whether performance at the mandatory Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) examination, and other variables, are predictive of success at the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) examination, thus potentially identifying those who may benefit from early academic intervention. Methods: Pearson correlation coefficients examined the linear relationship between both examinations and logistic regression analysis identified potential independent predictors of FRCS success. All UK medical graduates who attempted either section of FRCS (Sections 1 and 2) between 2012 and 2018 were included. Results: First attempt pass rates for Sections 1 and 2 FRCS were 87.4 per cent ( Conclusion: Part A and B MRCS performance were independent predictors of FRCS success, providing further evidence to support the predictive validity of this mandatory postgraduate exam. However, future research must explore the reasons between the attainment gaps observed for different groups of doctors.
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