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If you are reading this and your FRCR 2B exam is a couple of weeks away, firstly well done in getting to this stage. Reporting, MDTs, and the countless hours of on calls have all been to get you to this point. This exam is not an assessment of your knowledge to the extent that you could answer questions from a text book, it is more so an assessment of your ability to perform your clinical duties with a higher level of pressure and time constraints.
The FRCR 2B exam dates for the Oct 2026 diet are already listed on the official website of the Royal College of Radiologists
Focus on the right areas of the exam
The FRCR 2B exam includes Rapid Reporting (which assesses your ability to recognize and report common pathology in a timely manner), Long Case Interpretation (assesses your ability to integrate clinical and imaging information and propose a likely diagnosis) and the Viva (assesses your ability to think logically and reach conclusions based on the information provided). Rapid Reporting cases are often the bane of a radiology trainee. The FRCR examiners want to see that you can identify common, and sometimes more obscure, pathology and report cases in an effective manner. The long cases are similar to the reporting cases. The examiners will be looking for your ability to integrate your reasoning in an effective and logical manner to reach an appropriate conclusion. In the oral exam, the examiners are more concerned about your ability to think through various possibilities and justifications as opposed to having all of the answers.
With all of this in mind, it is always best to focus on more common pathology and reporting cases as opposed to spending long nights trying to memorize and identify extremely obscure cases
Stop studying and start preparing
It is important to prepare for the different elements of the exam rather than just review case material. The final few weeks of preparation should be focused on performing complete reports rather than reviewing cases. Use the following strategies to simulate the conditions of the exam as much as possible.
- Do Rapid Reporting sets under time pressure.
- Practice Long Cases by writing or dictating answers.
- Practice Oral Examinations by verbally stating your reasoning to a person or to yourself.
The best use of your time during this final stage of preparation would be to practice with timed mocks to perfect the explanation of a case rather than simply reading cases.
The Final Round Up
You might be feeling anxious and unprepared at this time, right before the exams. But remember that everyone feels this way including the top performing students.
All you need to do at this point is fine-tune your case analysis skills. It means emphasizing what you have learned during your case prep and not focusing on the areas that you have not yet mastered. Rehearsing takes precedence over learning new topics during the final days of your preparation. This will surely give you an upper hand in the real exam setting.
Sleep, food and some daylight are important basics in the final two weeks before the exam. Cramming does little to improve your exam performance and makes your recall during the exam even worse.
On The Exam Day
Read the questions thoroughly before answering. Just in case you are unsure of the answer, then tell the examiner what you would do next. Letting the examiners know what you would do next in order to gather more information needed to come to the correct diagnosis is also an important aspect of performing right in the FRCR2 B exam.
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By : patrick.cheriyan@studymedic.org
