The College of Surgeons of Hong Kong has in place a system of registration of all Basic Surgical Trainees and monitoring their progress, in order that a trainee be allowed to sit for the MRCS examination. Listed below are some important information:

A Basic Surgical Trainee is a resident in the Department of Surgery who is currently occupying a training position with the intent to sit for examination leading to the MRCS (or until its expiry, the old FRCS Edinburgh) diploma.

All Basic Surgical Trainee must register with the Intercollegiate Board of the Surgical Colleges, via a "Parent College", in this case, the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong. If you are taking a period of elective training in Surgery, ensure that you are registered via your respective Colleges - A&E, ENT or Orthopaedics.

A Trainee will only be allowed to sit for the MRCS examination if he (or she) has satisfactorily completed four six-month period of surgical rotations (or equivalent). He must also be actively registered with the College in the last six months.

Registration is done in January and July each year. The deadline for each registration (for the next 6 month rotation) is January 31 and July 31.

A registration form together with an annual fee of HK$500 should be submitted to the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong at the following address: The Secretariat, The College of Surgeons of Hong Kong, Room 601, 6th Floor, Hong Kong Academy of Medicine Buliding, 99 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberbeen, Hong Kong.

Overseas training periods should be submitted individually to the College for assessment and retrospective recognition.

Each trainee should keep a surgical log book and this should be inspected by their mentors every 3 months.

Each trainee should also prepare the following for inspection by the College every six months:

• A Log Book Summary (on the form provided by the College) - View a sample

• A Log Book Summary Report (on the form provided by the College) - View a sample

• Two Mentor assessment forms rated and signed by the mentor (i.e. Division Chief or Senior member) and also signed by the Trainee.

These will be inspected by the Accreditation Committee of the Hong Kong Intercollegiate Board of Surgical Colleges and the training period will only be recognized if the documents are of satisfactory standard. If the trainee do not agree with the mentor's assessment, he can refuse to sign the form and appeal to the college.

The forms are available for download directly from the College.

Download the forms

The 3 documents above together with a copy of the log book in the last 6 months should be submitted to Miss Christine Cheung at 4962 for inspection and forwarding to the College, latest by the First week of January and July.

In such rotation as ICU, A&E, or Orthopaedic Surgery, appropriate record should be kept of all relevant procedures (not necessarily surgical) performed. Proper records should also be kept of your academic activities and duly entered into your log book.

As of this date, the College has not set a minimum requirement of surgical procedures performed for satisfactory completion of the six month training.

Note:(1) For mentor assessment reports any grade less that Grade 4 (good) in any category is considered a failure of the overall training period. (2) Failure to submit the relevant documents will result in discreditation of you last six months' training. The College also requires that a trainee must be in active, accredited training at the time before he is allowed to take any of its examinations.

Once you obtain your MRCS (or FRCS), you may decide to enter into Advanced Surgical Training in General Surgery or other surgical specialties. Should you elect to be enrolled into the Advanced Training in General Surgery (leading to FRCS) you will have to register with the College of Surgeons, again in January and July each year, and you should do so as soon as possible. If you intend to sit for the FRACS examination, you should also separately register with the Regional Subcommittee of the RACS in Hong Kong. If you decide to enter Advanced Training in ENT, Urology, Neurosurgery, Paediatric Surgery, or Cardiothoracic Surgery, you should contact the representative of their respective boards for possible similar arrangements.

In July 1998, it was agreed at the College that once a candidate has passed the FRCS or MRCS, he can apply for registration for Advanced Training immediately from the College with effect from the first day of the month immediately after the exam, provided that he has done so and paid the fees for the whole year. His log book statistics for Advanced Training shall be assessed proportionally up to the current half-year period. He must also completed at least two years of Basic Surgical Training on the date of the registration.

As of this date, should you decide to register for FRACS, you should write directly to the RACS to obtain an application form. The Hong Kong College has no provision for registration forms at this time. You should also let me know that you have an intention to register for the FRACS.

Notice for Registration for Basic Surgical Traing

1. The Hong Kong Intercollegiate Board of Surgical Colleges (HKICBSC) composes of the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong College of Emergency Medicine, the Hong Kong College of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Hong Kong College of Otorhinolaryngologists. Applicants must provide evidence (For example : Letter of Certification, official receipt etc.) to prove that they have already registered with any one of the above-mentioned colleges before they could register with the Intercollegiate Board.

2. Please complete all the information required in the registration form.

3. The appointment to a hospital must be certified by the respective supervisor(s) before the respective training could be recognized and registered.

4. Overseas training without prior approval in writing from the Chairman of the Accreditation Committee HKICBSC before the date of registration and commencement of the local training programme will NOT be recognized by the HKICBSC.

5. The applicant must provide a copy of certification for Basic Surgical Skills Course if they have already attended one.

6. Please ensure that a cheque of HK$500 should be made payable to "Hong Kong Intercollegiate Board of Surgical Colleges". Trainees are required to pay the registration fee annually until they pass the intermediate conjoint examination.

7. As a registered trainee, you will receive a copy of the Guide to Surgical Training.

Hong Kong Intercollegiate Board of Surgical College (HKICBSC) will not be able to process any application which fails to provide complete information and the required documents. Basic trainees who have not registered with HKICBSC could not be allowed to sit for the intermediate conjoint examination.

Please contact telephone at (+852) 2871 8799 or fax at (+852) 2515 3198 for any enquiry.
Application should be sent to:

The Secretariat
Hong Kong Intercollegiate Board of Surgical Colleges
c/o The College of Surgeons of Hong Kong
Room 601, 6/F
Hong Kong Academy of Medicine Jockey Club Building
99 Wong Chuk Hang Road
Aberdeen, Hong Kong