MRCS PART A REVISION COURSES

Why SMASHING Education Courses?

MRCS Part A results: Post exam feedback September 21
 

" Dear Mr. Pathak,
 

​A huge thanks! I finally passed my MRCS Part A after many attempts. I am too embarrassed to say how many attempts.

Your course was very helpful! Your slides consolidated a lot of the basic repeat concepts instead of focusing on memorising obscure details.

I have tried other MRCS courses and have been generally, overwhelmed with the volume of unnecessary detail. 

The MCQ course was useful and the timing was just right. You had us talk out our thought process in a non judgemental forum and this taught me not to panic select answers on the exam day. 

The advice you gave to stay well rested before the exam was important. Many people have given me very intensive exam schedules that weren't as helpful as a good night sleep.

You also gave me confidence to stop doing MCQ questions! MCQ bank is actually the worst study method for myself. " - CT2, South Yorkshire

Congratulations from SMASHING Education.

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MRCS Part A results - April 2021 announcement 

We are proud to announce that one of our delegates who attended our March 2021 course, has passed MRCS Part A at the 1st attempt with the highest mark (96%) and the 3rd highest in the World. - Junior Research Fellow, Sheffield

Congratulations from SMASHING Education.

MRCS Part A: Reviews​

Mr Sanjeev Pathak is an MCQ writer for the FRCS (Urology) examination at the Royal College of Surgeons.

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He has mastered the ability to deliver knowledge required to pass the MRCS Part A exam. He has more than 25 years teaching experience. He will simplify complex facts that you will easily be able to recall during the exam. He will deliver ALL of the lectures over the 3-day period: Click here for more information about Mr Sanjeev Pathak, Course Director & Educator.

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We are sympathetically aware that surgical trainees are under immense pressure. They are clinically dedicated to their patients thus, often only getting time to study during the evenings and weekends. Often, sacrificing time spent with their family and friends. Furthermore, we have all experienced the daunting feeling of opening textbooks after a busy day and becoming overwhelmed!

To alleviate all the pitfalls, we have assembled a dedicated premier faculty consisting of experienced Lecturers, Clinicians, OSCE examiners and FRCS exam question writers. The exam has a significant failure rate, let us save you the time, stress and money.​​

SMASHING Education aims to help you pass the exam!

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| SMASHING Education:

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• Proven track record in teaching and candidates succeeding!

• Understand the Exam!

• Structured teaching!

• Simplification of facts!

You will leave the course with confidence, energy and enthusiasm!

SAMPLE VIDEO

MRCS Part A 3 day Online Revision Course 

UPCOMING LIVE ONLINE COURSES:
Postponed until Spring: 

Click each course for more details & booking

Please note, unlike the 3 day revision course there is no teaching on this day. 

If you have not attended the 3 day revision course, we highly recommend study in accordance with the MRCS syllabus prior to attending the Mock MCQ day.

MRCS Part A January 2022 Postponed

The Intercollegiate Committee for Basic Surgical Examinations (ICBSE) and the four Surgical Royal Colleges of the United Kingdom and in Ireland have taken the decision to postpone the January 2022 diet of the MRCS Part A examination.

Candidates registered to sit the January 2022 examination will automatically be moved to this next sitting in Spring 2022. Please contact the college for more details. Click here to read the announcement. 

SMASHING Education will also be postposing MRCS Part A courses until spring. We will announce the dates of the rescheduled courses as soon as the spring exam date is confirmed. We are anticipating the exam will be mid April as per the normal sitting, however this is yet to be confirmed by the college. 

The MRCS Part A 3-day revision course is held around 6 weeks before the exam and the Mock MCQ day is around 2 weeks before the exam. 

SMASHING Education
| MRCS Part A 3 Day Revision Course Itinerary 

The MRCS Part A 3-day revision course will be held currently, online.

We have restricted the number of delegates to 20. This will ensure the quality of the course delivered is maintained and will allow delegates to interact during the Q&A sessions & MCQ session.
 
The structured lectures will cover the key areas of the MRCS Part A syllabus - Applied Basic Sciences (Anatomy, Pathology and Physiology) and Principles of Surgery in General (Management of trauma, clinical surgical specialities and perioperative and critical care).

Day 1:  Basic and Applied Anatomy - Mr Sanjeev Pathak

Day 2:  Basic and Applied Pathology and Physiology - Mr Sanjeev Pathak

Day 3:  Principles of Surgery in General  & Interactive MCQ session - Mr Sanjeev Pathak

SMASHING Education

| MRCS Part A Interactive Mock MCQ Day Itinerary 

The interactive Mock MCQ day will cover a range of topics from the MRCS syllabus. This day complements the teaching from the revision course as we go through many questions and explain using the mnemonics from the course which will help you to memorise these for the exam.
 
Unlike a question bank, you will be able to ask questions if you don't understand the answers. We will show you how to break down the question to understand what the examiner is looking for and we will highlight the distractors which are designed to throw candidates. Please note, there will be no teaching on this day. If you require teaching, please attend the MRCS Part A 3-day revision course.

Previous candidates have found this to be an excellent resource for final preparation and have also used it as a tool to identify any knowledge gaps. 
 

 
The MRCS Part A courses are suitable for junior surgical trainees preparing for the examination.

         - Please note,  the 3 day course is a revision course which is usually held 6 weeks before the exam.
Prior preparation is strongly advised to maximise the benefits of this revision course. 

Feedback from previous candidates - What I would do differently to prepare for the courses:
1. Study in advance so that I can focus on my weak subjects
2. Ask and prepare more questions  
3. Interact more! This is key to all of our courses! The more you interact and engage, the more you will get out of the course. It will also help you to remember the topics, keep you focus and engaged.  

SMASHING Education

| How to pass the MRCS Part A exam

Many candidates fail to understand how to prepare for the MRCS part A examination. We quite often hear from candidates that their strategy has been,  “ I will have a go”. Why would you want to waste money but more importantly, several months of your life “to have a go” at an exam with significant failure rate? 

There is limited guidance on how to pass this exam.  SMASHING Education has devised a successful strategy that will help you pass the exam.  Furthermore, this will provide an excellent foundation for the Part B examination too.  

SMASHING Education | MRCS Part A strategy:

1.    Familiarise yourself with the syllabus - Understand the exam format - which topics are examined and how many questions per topic. This will allow you to allocate the proportionate time for each topic.  

2.    Study - Using the syllabus, read around these topics and study to understand the concepts that are examined. Give yourself enough time to study and do not try and cram it all in just before the exam. 

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Many candidates fail to understand the concept and assumptions of MCQ's - MCQs test your knowledge. The assumption is that candidates have studied and have the required knowledge to answer any question on any topic. You must be able to answer any question in the exam from syllabus - without study, this is not possible. 

3.    Revision course - Attend a revision course. SMASHING Education offers an interactive 3-day revision course which is taught by a FRCS MCQ writer so you will be given tips on tackling questions and the rationale of exam questions. The course is high yield and specific to the exam. We focus on the areas which are commonly tested in the exam. Topics are explained in a logical, bitesize chunks with mnemonics to make them easier to remember. (See feedback from previous candidates)

4.    MCQ mock day - Attend a MCQ mock day. SMASHING Education offers an interactive mock day which compliments the 3-day revision course. You will have the opportunity to go through hundreds of MCQ’s but unlike a question bank, you will have someone who will be able to provide explanations of the answers. (See feedback from previous candidates)

5.    Annual leave - We have seen so many candidates fail because they did not take enough time off prior to the exam. Make sure you book a week off before the exam to not only study but to also relax and mentally prepare yourself for the exam.

6.    Relax - It is important you relax, unwind and chill on the night before the exam. You have done all you can and trying to cram the study in the night before will be counterproductive. You should wake up fresh and ready to go.

Another misconception - completing question banks repeatedly will guarantee a pass. There are many risks with this strategy: 
1.    You memorise the question and answer but do not fully understand the concepts being examined. 
2.    You get used a certain format of questions - New questions have been recently added to the exam and candidates found these tough as they were lengthy, descriptive and were not familiar with this new style. 
3.    Some questions do not go into enough detail and provide generic answers eg. “Flaps” whereas the exam will list different types of flaps. 
4.    You don’t understand why you got the answer wrong – the explanations don’t make sense due to lack of underlying knowledge. 
5.    You don’t cover the whole syllabus and you can’t easily identify your weak topics.
 

We know candidates who score +90% with the online question banks but only scored average of 60% in the actual exam. The common response when asked why they failed - they didn’t supplement the question banks with other study or resources. 

We are here to help! We will teach you the concepts for this exam. You will not only be taught by a MCQ writer, but also a qualified and experienced consultant surgeon. 

SMASHING Education aims to help you pass the exam!

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| SMASHING Education:

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• Proven track record in teaching and candidates succeeding!

• Understand the Exam!

• Structured teaching!

• Simplification of facts!

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