CHENNAI: After a decade, Britain’s prestigious FRCS examination made a comeback in India, when candidates from across six Asian countries appeared for the second segment of the three-part Ophthalmology tests conducted at Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai.
Briefing the media here on Thursday, an examiners’ team, led by Dr Robert Murray, from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburg (RCSEd) that conducts the examination, said a total of 39 candidates from India, Pakistan, Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia and Sri Lanka took the FRCS (Part B) examination in Ophthalmology at the leading eye care hospital in the city. The examination was an exhaustive evaluation of the clinical expertise of the candidates, who had qualified Part A (theoretical). The final part included four years of training, the examiners said.
Stating that the Asian system of education seemed to be on the right path, Dr P Chakraborty, a JIPMER graduate and FRCSEd examiner, said the objective was to promote educational research and training exchanges between the institutions in the UK and India.
“We are here because of the demand,” Dr Murray said, adding that the last two parts of the FRCS examination revolved around good medical practices, including ethics. Candidates must answer questions related to interactions with patients, colleagues and drug companies. “Ethics is covered in both parts, but in greater detail in Part C,” he said.
On the quality of the Part B candidates, another examiner, Dr Simon Madge, said, while some were outstanding, others needed more training.
Dr T S Surendran, vice-chairman, Medical Research Foundation, Sankara Nethralaya, said the FRCS examination was seeing a revival at the hospital after a break of 10 years.