This document provides advice and information for candidates taking the FRCS examination. It discusses the various examination venues and advises candidates not to panic. It emphasizes developing your own diagnostic and treatment protocols while ensuring patient safety. The document also outlines the structure of the FRCS examination, including the different stations in the clinical exam and aspects that examiners may focus on. Key advice includes collaborating with healthcare professionals, taking a patient-tailored approach, and not letting any single station affect your performance. Various common ophthalmic cases that may appear are also mentioned.

1. FRCS: A journey with a past candidate!
Dr. Mahmoud Medhat El Gammal

2. FRCS 3
Examination venues:
1. Glasgow.
2. Amman.
3. Muscat.
4. Malta.
5. New Delhi.
6. Hyderabad.
7. Mumbai.
8. Bangalore.

3. Are All venues the same? Concerning difficulty
and success rates?
1. Glasgow: A wide range of neurological diseases.
2. Amman.
3. Muscat.
4. Malta.
5. New Delhi.
6. Hyderabad.
7. Mumbai.
8. Bangalore.

4. Wherever your examination venue is.....
DON’T PANIC

5. Address the patient as a true patient.
Never address the patient in the exam as a
heading in a textbook.
Develop your own protocol, and DEFEND it!
1. Skin depigmentation.
2. Non resolution.
3. Ophthalmic artery
occlusion.

6. Skin depigmentation is the complication
that I faced most during practice, and the
most dangerous recorded is arterial
injection and ophthalmic artery occlusion,
fortunately this has a very low rate. Other
complications like tarsal atrophy and non-
resolution are also of interest.

7. The scope of the exam is to ensure that you
are a knowledgeable safe practising doctor.
The scope does not include ensuring that
you keep and memorize a lot of textbooks!

8. I would like to refer the patient to pediatric
ophthalmology consultant, who (with
collaboration with the oncologist) would prefer
chemotherapy or most effectively enucleation.

10. Vitreoretinal Glaucoma
Oculoplasty

11. 1. Don’t Panic.
2. Develop your own protocol, and defend it!
3. How to be safe to the patient?
4. Deliver patient-tailored therapy.
5. Review your answers and correct your
pathway.

12. FRCS 3
1. Viva:
A. Internal medicine and Neuro-Ophthalmology.
B. Anterior segment & Oculoplasty.
C. Posterior segment.
2. Clinical:
A. Anterior segment.
B. Posterior segment.
C. Motility and Neuro-Ophthalmology.
D. Oculoplasty.

13. 1. Observer.
2. Subspeciality of the examiner.
3. You are scored by the silent fellow examiner.

14. General medicine
&
Neuro-Ophthalmology

16. you have a patient in your clinic waitting area,
who was eating peanuts and suddenly he fell to
the ground, what is your differential diagnosis?
................
This is chocking, what is your management?
According to the age.
He was 5 year old.
................

17. Memorize the dose of adrenaline in anaphylactic
shock by heart!
0.5 ml of 1:1000 adrenaline

19. A 30-year old male patient with breathlessness and red
eye, what do you suspect may be the cause?
Sarcoidosis – TB......
How to confirm the diagnosis?
Chest X-ray, if not conclusive Chest CT.
Tell me the investigations of sarcoidosis.
Skin test “Kveim”
This is not performed anymore. What are the lab tests?
................................................
What are the ocular manifestations of sarcoidosis? What
may be the cause of the red eyes in this patient?
................................................

20. This is a 5-year old boy. What is this?
Drooping of the left upper lid. Left apparent ptosis.
What is your differential diagnosis?
Any history about the onset?
It is since birth.
Most likely left congenital ptosis, may be myogenic in 75% of cases, however
there is still a chance of aponeuorotic or congenital horner’s syndrome.

21. Never forget collaborating with the assigned
health care professional!

22. Patient tailored approach.

23. Study everything, as long as it is entitled
“Ophthalmic disorder”

24. ARN and PORN are favourite topics in the FRCS
exam.

27. Never allow a single case or even a single station to
affect your performance in the subsequent
stations.

28. Anterior segment station
• Pseudophakic eye.
• Glaucoma drainage device.
Posterior segment station
• Macular hole.
• Vitrectomy with barrage laser.

29. Oculoplasty station
Post-enucleation socket syndrome. [Spot diagnosis]

30. Read the candidate experience!
Cases may be repeated in the exams, like:
White dot syndrome.
Sympathetic ophthalmia.