FRCR Part 1

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About the Exam

The FRCR Part 1 exam is the 1st part of the 3-part FRCR and comprises an online physics and anatomy exam held on 2 different days in a test centre.

The physics exam lasts 2 hours and contains 40 true-false questions currently divided into:

• Matter and Radiation (3 questions)

• Radiography & Fluoroscopy (6 questions)

• Radionuclide Imaging (6 questions)

• Radiation Safety (6 questions)

• Computed Tomography (6 questions)

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (6 questions)

• Ultrasound (6 questions)

• Other: (1 question)

The anatomy exam lasts 90 minutes and comprises 100 images with questions (1 question per image). The images typically depict a medical imaging modality with an arrowed structure that you need to either identify or answer a question about. You can be asked about normal anatomy and normal anatomical variants, but NOT pathology.

More exam information and booking HERE.

Physics

Revision Strategy

The key to preparing for the physics paper is to try to understand the concepts first before attempting any questions. Physics is new to most Doctors so it really pays to focus on learning the principles at the beginning.

Essential Resources

Optional Resources

• R-ITI modules (Link)

  • Web-based modules covering all topics in bite-sized chunks. I felt these explained the physics concepts well, so a good resource if you want to build a solid understanding of imaging modalities.

  • Free if you are an NHS employee (you just need to create an e-learning for healthcare account).

  • Quite detailed, so best used in conjunction with one of the above resources if you need more depth on a topic.

• "MRI made easy" (Link)

  • A short, illustrated guide explaining the principles of MRI using everyday analogies. A fun book.

Practice Questions

• 10 FREE physics specimen questions from the Royal College of Radiologists (Link)

  • Some questions use outdated guidelines for IRR and IR(ME)R.

• 85 FREE physics questions from FRCR Academy (Link) (not sponsored)

Courses

• FRCR Part 1 Mersey Physics Course (https://www.lmi.org.uk/physics)

  • Highly recommended by all the trainees I've spoken to.

  • Run by a former physics examiner.

• Peninsula Radiology Academy FRCR Part 1 Course (https://www.penra.org.uk/frcr-1/)

  • Essentially a mock physics and anatomy exam in an online environment similar to the real exam.

  • Good topics and explanation of the answers.

Exam Tips

• Read the question carefully as the questions are notorious for having traps with wording (e.g. using double negatives, etc.).

• Draw on the paper provided, especially when they ask about the impact of changing one factor (such as target-object distance). The answer can be counter-intuitive.

• When they ask about changing one parameter, assume that all other parameters are maintained as the same unless they specify otherwise. For example, when increasing the target to detector distance, assume the object - detector distance is kept the same.

• It's a true-false exam with no negative marking so make sure you guess if you aren't sure!

Stuff to memorise

• Some facts for the exam just need to be memorised. Here's a list of the higher yield things to memorise (or cram just before the exam):

Anatomy

Revision Strategy

To prepare for the anatomy paper, focus your revision by doing as many practice questions as you can and then read up on the questions you get wrong in an anatomy atlas and/or textbook. I highly recommend the FREE Radiology Café Anatomy mock exams.

Anatomy Resources

• IMAIOS e-anatomy (Link) (Not sponsored)

  • This is an online (website and app) anatomy atlas with labelled diagrams which is useful as a reference, especially as you can get it as an app.

  • It isn't free, however.

• Radiology Café's list of normal anatomical variants (Link)

  • Really useful list of common anatomical variants. Just memorise the list.

Practice Questions

• Radiology Café Mock Anatomy Exams (Link)

  • 18 FREE mock anatomy exams, each with 100 questions (total 1800 questions) in the format of the exam.

  • This is, in my opinion, the best resource to prepare for the anatomy exam. The questions are representative of the exam and were the only resources I used to prepare for and pass the exam.

• 2 free sets of anatomy questions from FRCR Academy (Link) (not sponsored)

Exam Tips

• Read the questions as sometimes they don't ask you to name the structure, but rather to name what attaches to it or runs through it.

• Name the side! If you don't say Left or Right, then you will easily lose 1 out of the 2 marks for each question. Sometimes the side is indicated by a marker (e.g. on plain radiographs) or you have to work it out based on other anatomical features (e.g. the heart is on the left and obscures part of the left hemidiaphragm).

• You don't have to name the side if only 1 of a paired structure is shown (with no label for left or right)

  • This is explained in the RCR advice for the anatomy exam "If, however, a single structure is presented (e.g. the left hand), it is unnecessary to denote left or right."

• For paediatric anatomy, "Candidates who describe an epiphysis or apophysis as a secondary ossification centre, will lose one mark as this answer is only partially correct." - again, as per the RCR advice for the anatomy exam.