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FRACS · General Surgery Fellowship

FRACS GS / operate.

111 sourced study notes and 3,659 spaced-repetition flashcards across the 9 examined subspecialties. AI SAQ and spots grading on the Fail / Borderline / Pass / Distinction tier, a five-station viva simulator with voice mode, and an unlimited Fellowship-level MCQ library. Built for the depth the Fellowship vivas demand.

Try free: acute mesenteric ischaemia, anorectal disorders, GI perforation

Pass rate
Not published
RACS issues a candidate report per sitting
Sittings per year
1–2
Written + Viva annually
Format
SAQ + Spots + 5 Vivas
25 spots stems · 8 SAQs · 5 viva stations
Study notes
111
one per LO · 3,659 flashcards
Organising college
RACS
Not affiliated with PRIMEX
· 2026 dates ·

FRACS General Surgery Fellowship Exam Dates 2026

Published dates for the upcoming sittings. Always confirm against the official RACS Fellowship Examination page before scheduling. I refresh this section quarterly as new windows are announced.

  • Written 2026.19 Apr 2026
  • Clinical/Viva 2026.1 (Wellington)23–24 May 2026
  • Clinical/Viva 2026.1 (Melbourne)30–31 May 2026
  • Written 2026.26 Aug 2026
  • Clinical/Viva 2026.2 (Sydney)19–20 Sep 2026

First-come, first-served registration due to limited GS/Ortho places in Australia. Registration windows: 12–28 Jan and 9–25 Jun 2026.

· Exam domains ·

Topics tested in the FRACS General Surgery exam

~25%
Upper GI & Colorectal
Oesophageal, gastric, and colorectal malignancy staging, operative approach, and oncological principles. Inflammatory bowel disease, diverticular disease, and anorectal conditions with operative decision-making.
Ivor-Lewis · TME · Whipple · Hartmann's · IPAA · Anorectal fistula · Laparoscopic approach
~25%
Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic & Hernia
HPB surgery at Fellowship level: liver resection, Whipple procedure, bile duct reconstruction, and management of pancreatic malignancy and pancreatitis. Hernia repair across all types with laparoscopic and open approaches.
Couinaud segments · ERCP · Portal vein embolisation · Lichtenstein · TEP/TAPP · Component separation
~25%
Breast, Endocrine, Vascular & Trauma
Breast cancer triple assessment, sentinel node biopsy, and reconstruction. Thyroid and parathyroid surgery. Peripheral vascular disease, acute limb ischaemia, and abdominal aortic aneurysm. Damage control surgery and trauma laparotomy.
WLE/SLNB · Total thyroidectomy · Carotid endarterectomy · AAA · Damage control · ATLS priorities
~25%
Anatomy, Pathophysiology & Operative Principles
Regional surgical anatomy tested in viva format. Pathophysiological reasoning across GI, HPB, and endocrine disease. Operative principles: access, haemostasis, anastomosis, reconstruction, and perioperative management of the surgical patient.
Calot's triangle · Hepatic anatomy · TNM staging · Wound complications · Nutritional support · Anastomotic leak
· Real imaging ·

Practice on real radiology images

Used with permission from LearningRadiology.com. Every image links to its full teaching case. Tap to open.

Published with permission from LearningRadiology.com Try a free spot diagnosis →
· What's inside ·

How candidates prepare for the FRACS General Surgery

FRACS General Surgery SAQ grader: the answer box with a timer and a random question set
Eight SAQs. Full marking. Examiner standard.

Written 2 of the FRACS Fellowship is an SAQ paper: 8 questions in 130 minutes, 1 non-technical question plus 7 specialty questions, each requiring structured surgical reasoning with specific operative detail: name of the procedure, the approach, the key anatomical steps, oncological margins, and complication management. The PRIMEX SAQ grader generates questions in authentic FRACS format, marks every point, and returns a tier with an examiner-style model answer that flags when your response is too generic.

  • FRACS-format SAQs across all surgical subspecialties
  • Pass / Borderline / Distinction tier with marking commentary
  • Every marking point checked: operative indications, staging, complications
  • Model answer at FRACS examiner standard with specific surgical detail
  • Timed mock: 8 questions, 130 minutes
FRACS General Surgery Spots stem: an image-based melanoma case with short-answer sub-questions
Twenty-five image stems. Eight marks each. Graded by sub-question.

Written 1 of the FRACS Fellowship is Spots: 25 image-based stems in 130 minutes, roughly five minutes per stem, each worth 8 marks split across 2 to 4 short-answer sub-questions (max ~10 words per answer). The PRIMEX Spots Mode generates fresh stems with reference answers and grades each sub-question independently, so you can see which marking points you carried and which you missed.

  • Twenty-five-stem mock paper at the real five-minute pace
  • Image library across HPB, vascular, breast, endocrine, trauma, GI and 10 other surgical categories
  • Independent per-sub-question marking, not a single tier
  • Library tab to revisit attempted stems and re-grade
FRACS General Surgery MCQ practice: a single-best-answer question with a confidence selector
Surgical clinical vignettes. Full explanations.

Fellowship-level MCQs across all nine general surgery subspecialties. Questions are framed as operative decision-making scenarios: which approach, which staging, which investigation changes management. Full explanations for every option with community answer distributions after each question.

  • Fellowship-level SBA questions across all nine subspecialties
  • Operative decision-making framing: approach, staging, investigation
  • Explanation for every option, including the distractors
  • Community answer distribution after each question
  • AI-generated, curriculum-mapped, endless supply
FRACS General Surgery viva simulator: station setup with selectable examiner conversation styles
An AI Fellowship examiner. Five station formats.

Sessions run in real RACS viva format: Operative Surgery (30 min), Pathophysiology / Critical Care / Clinical Reasoning (40 min), CIAA with eight clinical images (32 min), Clinical 1 medium-case (30 min), and Clinical 2 short-case (40 min). Each station opens on a scenario calibrated to its station type, then the examiner probes operative decision-making, anatomy, or pathophysiological reasoning with the depth a consultant examiner expects. Debrief returns a tier and a specific learning point, with voice mode for spoken answers and an examiner persona tuned to published RACS examiner-report language.

  • Five station formats matching the real FRACS Fellowship structure
  • Operative Surgery: justify approach, handle complications, manage intraoperative findings
  • Pathophysiology / Critical Care: postoperative derangements and physiological reasoning
  • CIAA: eight clinical images, structured short-answer interpretation
  • Voice mode plus tiered debrief with a specific learning point per session
FRACS General Surgery flashcard: a revealed spaced-repetition card with Again, Hard, Good and Easy grading
3,659 cards. Spaced repetition. Nine subspecialties.

3,659 curriculum-mapped flashcards across all nine general surgery subspecialties. Spaced repetition keeps the operative detail in memory between sittings. Covers TNM staging, classification systems, drug doses, and operative steps. Cards you struggle with come back sooner; cards you know drop back automatically.

  • 3,659 cards mapped to the FRACS General Surgery curriculum
  • Clinical vignette, classification, and value cards across nine subspecialties
  • TNM staging, Hinchey, Forrest, Bismuth-Corlette classification systems
  • Operative steps and perioperative management algorithms
  • One click from card to full study note
FRACS General Surgery study note on breast diagnostics with an embedded radiology plate and practice rail
111 study notes. One per LO. Referenced.

111 sourced study notes across the FRACS General Surgery curriculum, one for every covered learning objective. Written to a consistent seven-section format with operative detail throughout: staging systems, surgical approach decisions, intraoperative steps, and complication management. Referenced to NCCN, ANZGOSA, and current Australian oncology guidelines.

  • 111 study notes across nine subspecialties, one per LO
  • Operative context: approach, key steps, anatomical hazards, complications
  • Referenced to NCCN, ANZGOSA, RACS position statements, and primary literature
  • Full-text search across all notes
  • Linked from MCQ explanations, SAQ feedback, and viva debriefs
FRACS General Surgery interview practice: a 5-station MMI setup with a sample scenario
5-station RACS General Surgery SET selection MMI practice.

Rehearse the publicly-documented RACS General Surgery SET 1 selection MMI format. Five stations of 12 minutes each (2 minutes reading plus 10 minutes inside the panel), roughly three clinical scenarios (acute abdomen, trauma triage, peri-operative deterioration) and two non-technical stations (professionalism and ethics, communication, motivation and CV, audit and QI). The interview alone carries 50% of the total selection score per the GSA 2026 Australian Selection Regulations, alongside CV (20%), professionalism referees (20%) and rurality (10%). The debrief returns a tier band, per-dimension rubric scores against the RACS Competencies framework (Medical Expertise, Judgement, Communication, Collaboration, Management, Health Advocacy, Scholarship, Professionalism), and framework beat checks per station.

  • 5-station MMI format with 12-minute slots (2 min reading + 10 min response per panel)
  • Mirrored from the GSA 2026 Australian Selection Regulations + RACS SET selection-process page
  • Stations cover clinical scenarios, professionalism and ethics, communication, motivation, audit and QI
  • Calibrated rubric scoring per dimension with full band descriptions
  • RACS Competencies (NOT CanMEDS) demonstrated and missed per station
  • Framework beat tracking for STAR-FR, SPIES, PEARLS, PDSA, ABCDE, ISBAR
· About this exam ·

FRACS General Surgery format and structure: Fellowship Examination

The FRACS General Surgery Fellowship Examination has a written component and an oral viva component. The written examination includes a Spots paper (25 image-based stems, 130 minutes, 8 marks per stem) and an SAQ paper (8 questions, 130 minutes: 1 non-technical plus 7 specialty). The oral component comprises five viva stations: Operative Surgery (30 min), Pathophysiology / Critical Care / Clinical Reasoning (40 min), CIAA with 8 clinical images (32 min), Clinical 1 medium-case (30 min), and Clinical 2 short-case (40 min). Candidates must demonstrate operative decision-making, anatomical knowledge, staging and oncological principles, and management of surgical complications across the full breadth of general surgery. PRIMEX is built by Dr Jay Marshall, an anaesthetics registrar in Taree, NSW.

  • OrganiserRoyal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS)
  • FormatWritten: Spots (25 stems, 130 min, 8 marks each) + SAQ (8 questions, 130 min: 1 non-technical + 7 specialty). Oral: 5 viva stations; Operative Surgery, Pathophys/CC/Clinical Reasoning, CIAA, Clinical 1 medium, Clinical 2 short
  • SpecialtiesUpper GI, Colorectal, HPB, Hernia, Breast, Endocrine, Vascular, Trauma, Surgical Oncology
  • SittingsTwice yearly (Written), with matched Clinical/Viva windows in NZ and Australia
  • Pass rateRACS does not publish a separated written-vs-viva pass rate; it issues a candidate report after each sitting. Check the RACS website for current figures
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Five high-yield FRACS General Surgery topics. One free SAQ and three MCQs per topic, graded against college-standard marking points. No signup.

· Questions ·

Common questions about the FRACS General Surgery exam

· Pricing ·

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