College and partners set to open two surgical exam centres in India

28 Jul 2023

Two new examination centres for surgical trainees are set to launch in Pune and Thiruvananthapuram, India, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow has announced today.

The centres will be hosted in a new partnership with Symbiosis International in Pune and KIMS Health in Thiruvananthapuram. These will offer the MRCS Part B examination – an intercollegiate exam run by the four surgical Royal Colleges in the UK and Ireland.

The first exam held in Pune is expected to take place in 2024 on February 27 and 28. The exam diet for the centre in Thiruvananthapuram will be announced later in the year.

The announcement was made during a visit to India by Royal College President, Mike McKirdy this week, his first since Covid-19 travel restrictions lifted.

Mike McKirdy said: “We are extremely proud of our international College community, and it is such a pleasure to return to India this year to meet with colleagues and the physicians and surgeons of the future.

“Our new partnerships with Symbiosis International and KIMS Health are an exciting development which will provide easier access to this important exam for trainee surgeons in India and the Middle East. Our experienced examination team is very much looking forward to meeting with the centre’s first candidates in early 2024.”

The exam is open to all candidates that have passed the MRCS Part A exam, including those who have sat the MRCS Part A examination with another UK Royal College.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow has more than 15,000 Members and Fellows across the UK, as well as internationally, which includes more than 1,400 in India.

While visiting India, the President has met with colleagues, including fellows and members of the College in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. In the lead up to the breast surgery conference ABSICON, he has met with physicians, surgeons and trainees in hospitals and research centres. Over the course of the visit, he will deliver a series of talks on global citizenship in the NHS and reflecting on the approach to breast cancer treatment and management, based on his own career as an NHS surgeon.

The MRCS Part B exam is already widely delivered in the UK. The College hopes these new centres will begin to offer candidates in India and the Middle East similar access to a fundamental part of surgical training. This an objective structured clinical exam (OSCE), assessing applied knowledge and skills. It includes 17 examined stations each of nine minutes’ duration. Upon completion of the MRCS Part B exam in either centre, successful candidates will be eligible for election as a Member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Applications for MRCS Part B in Pune are now open! To access the online form and find out how to apply, click here.