TSR Doctors society

Hey guys, i'm contemplating sitting my MRCP part 2 in March (during my F3 year). The pass rates over the past few sittings for part 2 have been significantly higher than for the part 1, and so I was wondering what people attribute this to? Is the improvement in pass rate explainable by the fact that the cohort are simply more MCQ savvy by this point, or is the exam genuinely slightly easier in its content? Like to hear anyone's thoughts x

Hey guys, i'm contemplating sitting my MRCP part 2 in March (during my F3 year). The pass rates over the past few sittings for part 2 have been significantly higher than for the part 1, and so I was wondering what people attribute this to? Is the improvement in pass rate explainable by the fact that the cohort are simply more MCQ savvy by this point, or is the exam genuinely slightly easier in its content? Like to hear anyone's thoughts x

Having just done the Part 2 Written, I would say a few factors would contribute to the skew in results:

1. If you haven't developed good exam technique and aren't prepared for MRCP questions in general, you have a good chance of failing Part 1 anyway. The population sitting Part 2 by definition have to have passed Part 1 so there is that difference in demographic that contributes.

2. The questions in Part 2 are more clinically orientated and you're more likely to perform well based on accrued clinical experience and real-life medical knowledge as opposed to the much purer theoretical and scientific knowledge base required for Part 1.

3. If you've recently passed Part 1, you're very likely to still have a lot of that raw information well established in your head; though Part 2 is more clinical and diagnostic, there is significant overlap in terms of the underpinning knowledge. I think candidates build on top of the previous examination revision as opposed to starting from scratch.

4. Some people who aren't committed to doing MRCP(UK) or a medical specialty will sit Part 1 Written but go no further, more of these people are likely to fail relative to the people who commit to doing Part 2

5. I'm fairly sure the Royal Colleges have the score scaling set up with the intention that more people should fail Part 1; this is purely speculation (though I know various consultant colleagues involved to lesser or greater degrees in the RCP who think the same) but I think it's probably intended as a hurdle to filter out candidates in a front-loaded manner.


I'm not convinced the questions are easier (in fact they're still very hard) but they tend to be more clinically orientated as identifying a diagnosis, how you'd investigate or treat something, what the prognosis of something is, what the most likely underlying aetiology is et cetera. If you've been doing medical specialties for a while and are quite experienced (and enthusiastic beyond 9-5 grinding) it can feel easier than Part 1 as a result. There's no reason you couldn't do this in an 'FY3' year but depending on the level of experience you've had so far in what types of departments and what amount of responsibility, it could be quite challenging to approach compared to the sheer knowledge requirements of Part 1 which are best learnt by learning and MCQs.



Since I didn't gloat earlier, I got 724 in my Part 2W

Congrats on passing your exam! Thanks, that's a really detailed answer and pretty much supports what I suspected. I just feel a bit let down looking at the question banks and mock exam - the content doesn't seem substantially different to the part 1, and I potentially could've saved myself a heck of a lot of revision time if I just powered through and did the part 2 straight after part 1 (rather than waiting 6 or so months). I feel like i've just doubled my revision time unnecessarily, having to start from what feels like scratch.

On the topic of FY3, I've always wanted to do a postgraduate creative writing degree and was thinking of doing a 2-year one after FY2. This isn't necessarily 'productive' in terms of clinical medicine so do you think it's still an acceptable option?

Don't see a problem with taking non clinical stuff in years after F2 but don't think you can really refer to them as F3/F4 which imply some progression if you aren't doing any significant clinical work.

My main questions re: a 2 year absence for a degree is how are you going to fund it. I had enough saved from FY years for a year without working, maybe even two at a push, but certainly not with degree fees thrown in as well!

Don't get a dog if you're going to be working clinically full time in the dogs lifetime and don't have someone else at home to help look after it.

'F3' seems to mean different things to different people and I think it may be regional? For me and everyone I knew in med school 'F3' was a joke term meaning a year away from medicine, perhaps doing a couple of months work at most, most likely in Australia or similar. But when I had contact with grads from different areas we'd run into confusion because for them an 'F3' meant actually still working full time, possibly with the specific aim of CV building. Was a bit of a surprise!

You've now taken it one step further and are implying it actually denotes seniority! Definitely not a meaning I've heard before!

...and when I mentioned to my supervisor that I'd be taking a year out of training next year it was automatically assumed that I would be doing it for the purposes of a clinical fellowship as well.

The foundation programme is series of training posts and so to me to label other activities post F2 as "F3/F4" implies some training/progression when often this is not the case.

My interpretation of that (which may also be incorrect) is that it would not include turning down an offer of a post. That would be referring to someone who accepted an offer, and then withdrew from the training programme once they'd already started.

anyone know if its true that if you dont take all your annual leave entitlement you can get paid for the extra days that you worked?

And another changeover day rolls around...

Honestly cannot wait to see the back of this job. Have had more problems on it than I could ever have imagined. Suffice it to say I have definitely concluded psychiatry is NOT for me.

That said although I've been looking forward to A&E all year, now that it's upon me I'm kind of scared. The rota is brutal, the hours unsociable, I don't know how to suture, I haven't really done any medicine in 4 months, and in my hospital I could be the most senior person in the department overnight (supported by NPs).

Any advice anyone?

That said although I've been looking forward to A&E all year, now that it's upon me I'm kind of scared. The rota is brutal, the hours unsociable, I don't know how to suture, I haven't really done any medicine in 4 months, and in my hospital I could be the most senior person in the department overnight (supported by NPs).

Any advice anyone?

and in my hospital I could be the most senior person in the department overnight (supported by NPs).

Any advice anyone?

And another changeover day rolls around...

Honestly cannot wait to see the back of this job. Have had more problems on it than I could ever have imagined. Suffice it to say I have definitely concluded psychiatry is NOT for me.

That said although I've been looking forward to A&E all year, now that it's upon me I'm kind of scared. The rota is brutal, the hours unsociable, I don't know how to suture, I haven't really done any medicine in 4 months, and in my hospital I could be the most senior person in the department overnight (supported by NPs).

Any advice anyone?