Why are the Grayscale Courses different from other FRCR 2b preparation courses?
These are not FRCR 2b courses that provide multiple different hit and miss teachers or examiners. You may have been on many courses yourself and may have appreciated that the quality varied. This is because the course director has to invite most of his own staff regardless of their material or teaching ability to avoid insult. They will then try and invite other good teachers too, but most of the good teachers are usually committed to many other academic activities and may be unavailable. So they fill in with more junior people and sometimes senior post-FRCR registrars. So although the overall quality may be good it is frequently variable. The Grayscale Faculty have been selected to be the highest quality but also is limited to three trainers that collectively constantly review you as an individual and try to improve you personally.
Nearly all FRCR courses are "assessment" courses. You attend, do some vivas or complete exams, receive a score or a few limited comments and then you move on. The Grayscale Courses are teaching courses. Yes you do vivas on the Viva course and written or rapid exams on the Rapid and Written days. But the key is the teaching you receive to improve your knowledge and your performance.
Nearly all FRCR courses are "assessment" courses. You attend, do some vivas or complete exams, receive a score or a few limited comments and then you move on. The Grayscale Courses are teaching courses. Yes you do vivas on the Viva course and written or rapid exams on the Rapid and Written days. But the key is the teaching you receive to improve your knowledge and your performance.
What is the difference between the 2-day Viva Course and the Written 1-day Course or Rapid 1-day Courses?
The 2 viva day course is a small group (10 maximum) course primarily targetting the viva section of the exam. However, through the pre-course online/emailed material we also address the Rapid Reporting and also do some long cases, based on select image stacks. Post course you get further observation testing cases.
The 1 day courses are complimentary to the 2 day Viva course. You can take any of the three courses together or in isolation. The order you take them in does not matter. The Written and Rapid reporting 1 day Courses are not quite as small group as the original course but are still designed to give you personalised assistance with specific focus on the Written Cases portion of the exam or the Rapid Reporting portion.
For both the Written Reports Course or the Rapid Reporting Course you get training both on the day but also with marked anallysed exams before the course and exam material after the courses too.
The 1 day courses are complimentary to the 2 day Viva course. You can take any of the three courses together or in isolation. The order you take them in does not matter. The Written and Rapid reporting 1 day Courses are not quite as small group as the original course but are still designed to give you personalised assistance with specific focus on the Written Cases portion of the exam or the Rapid Reporting portion.
For both the Written Reports Course or the Rapid Reporting Course you get training both on the day but also with marked anallysed exams before the course and exam material after the courses too.
On the Original Viva Course will I get a full FRCR exam?
No you will not. Other courses or your training schemes can do that for you. To do so would mean we would have to use many other teachers and you would get an experience that was not maximized to teaching you stuff you did not know. What is the point of going to a course and seeing loads of cases you have seen before? That’s reinforcement, not maximized learning. We aim to show you as much material that you have not seen before. In an exam format, facing sequential difficult cases that you might not know the answers to, could be extremely demoralizing and detrimental to your pre-exam psychology. We want you optimistically primed for the exam, not predetermined for failure!
What parts of the Final FRCR exam does the 2-day Grayscale Viva Course cover?
We focus on the part that most stumble on. The plain films and the complex cross-sectional cases. The cases are all viva or written case material. But we address rapid reporting and other elements in the pre-course interactive email materials we exchange with your personalised feedback.
What about the Rapid Reporting?
This is unnecessarily a stumbling block for many. The Rapid Reporting 1 day course exclusively tackles this part of the exam. The course is not designed to exclusively show exam packs (you can do those elsewhere) but rather teach a specific approach for every film you may encounter and guide candidates to be confident of normal films. The day is a high volume mix of abnormal and normal films. There is an exam pack taken before the course (marked with individual guidance), two after the body part teaching on the day, and one after the exam self-marked to asses progress. Critical to the day is that we also undertake a detailed strategic analysis of how to maximise your score on this section of the exam.
On the original 2-day Viva course you will receive a detailed written summary and analysis of how to maximize your performance in the Rapid Reporting in a strategic analysis document provided before the course with test packs. On the original course you will see some films that help you with this but this is not a focus of the 2-day course. On the viva course we won’t spend specific sessions on the rapids but I will provide some very practical advice for you on this topic that will I hope be effective guidance on how this hurdle is effectively bypassed.
The written 1 day course does not cover the rapid reporting element of the exam.
On the original 2-day Viva course you will receive a detailed written summary and analysis of how to maximize your performance in the Rapid Reporting in a strategic analysis document provided before the course with test packs. On the original course you will see some films that help you with this but this is not a focus of the 2-day course. On the viva course we won’t spend specific sessions on the rapids but I will provide some very practical advice for you on this topic that will I hope be effective guidance on how this hurdle is effectively bypassed.
The written 1 day course does not cover the rapid reporting element of the exam.
Do you use Practique, Osirix, Horos?
For the Written Reporting Course and the Rapid Reporting Course we use 21.5 inch macs using Horos (Osirix equivalent). For the written course answers are typed to simulate the exam experience. Although we provide guidance for the use of the Practique system we do not spefically use this RCR proprietery platform. It has been the experience of candidates that the PCs used in the exam are actually of relatively low specification and historically there have been problems with the Practique system. For training we want to ensure that we have a faultless system that can handle hundreds of cases and screens that are optimal. This is expensive for us to organise but is our committement to excellence.
For the 2 day Viva course we do not use Horos or a DICOM system. This is because our collection includes thousands of hard copy and digital examinations. All of our hard copy films have been digitised although you always lose a little in digitisation and all of these cases are exceptional - we don't want degradation. Years of experience have also taught us that it is far more efficient, faster, and effective to teach the viva portion of the exam by either reviewing cases on a projector board in front of the small group, or at a viewing box. We do both, mixing and matching digital and soft copy films. In this way we can show multiple films rapidly, we can simulate the pressure of the exam by rapidly changing cases, show you companion cases, but also keep the small group all individually involved at all times. When someone else is taking a case, so are you. The question may turn to you in an instant. If someone else takes a CT case you can see all the images, not just the one image the person being vivaed may be focused on. Trust us, this works exceptionally well. We could do it on Horos, we do it this way, because it is better. Just like on the Written or Rapid courses where we believe a DICOM viewer is better for that task. Candidates attending overwhelmingly recognise that!
I am thinking of doing the FRCR 2b exam in six months, can I take the Grayscale Course as a preparation course?
Generally we would not advise it. Although several people have decided to do this regardless and found it beneficial others have realised they are some way away from the level of others in the group. That said some people have came back and did the course again! Certainly, you may be inspired, but this will be intense and your level will likely not be ready for it. So a lot of advice and information that may seem so helpful a few weeks out from the exam will not necessarily register at your stage. You will get the most benefit if you are planning to do the exam in the next few weeks. But I have said several candidates who have been out of the system for a while have come on the course and found it very beneficial, recommending it to others.
I have heard your cases are hard, maybe too much for me and my esteem right now?
The cases are all mostly hard, but each one is individually fair game. Your exam would not be this type of case back to back. Which is why a complete viva of this level would be torture! This type of course prepares you for the worst case scenario, cases where you can break down and then either not maximize your performance or worse underperform to your established level on subsequent cases.No one needs help for the best case scenario. Everyone goes through ups and downs with their emotions in exam prep time. You may have bad sessions, days or even a week or two. No one benefits from a drubbing and so you don’t get one. We will learn from humour and a little gentle self-mockery (ourselves included). We want the information to stick.
Why have you got lectures in the original course, that is boring isn't it?
Yep, most lectures can be boring, but perhaps you have not been at our lectures! Besides these are not lectures, they are predominantly micro-lectures. They target high yield areas, they are very focussed. They also give you a little break from the intensity of answering cases. Consistently the attendees rate them extremely highly on feedback and want them retained.
I have failed before (or multiple times). This is going to be too hard, is it not?
It does not really matter what your prior experience with the exam was. If you are new to the exam we have to get you over the line comfortably, if you are very good we want to make you excellent. We have trained people who won the gold medal and who personally acknowledged the course for this. Overall considering all RCR applicants roughly half of people do not pass the exam, and many fail several times. There are many reasons for this, apart from base knowledge. It is our job to identify these reasons and guide you towards your goal. In one past course we had 2 candidates that had failed 11 times between them. Both passed. During the course its our job to blend "the never taken the exam before" and those who have failed before. Both learn from each other a lot. If you want to see the experience of someone who has failed before, see the testimonials section.
What are your philosophies with regards to the Final FRCR exam?
1. You sit the exam once.
(If you have sat the exam before you sit it one more last successful time).
2. Over-prepare so that you can afford to be nervous and underperform on the day and still comfortably pass.
3. Work harder and know more than your peers. There is no substitute for graft.
4. Train with your colleagues and groups. But the exam is not a group exercise, it is a personal evaluation. Do what you need to do, even if alone.
5. “I do not do well in exams” is not a valid reason. It is a self-justification, better known as an excuse, and can be overcome in all with the right kind of preparation.
(If you have sat the exam before you sit it one more last successful time).
2. Over-prepare so that you can afford to be nervous and underperform on the day and still comfortably pass.
3. Work harder and know more than your peers. There is no substitute for graft.
4. Train with your colleagues and groups. But the exam is not a group exercise, it is a personal evaluation. Do what you need to do, even if alone.
5. “I do not do well in exams” is not a valid reason. It is a self-justification, better known as an excuse, and can be overcome in all with the right kind of preparation.
Why do you do it?
Because we love to teach, and we love to think we can formatively influence trainees at this formative stage of their radiology training to success. If the motivation was money, the room would be packed full like sardines, the teaching impersonal, and the experience one we would not be proud of. Our greatest sense of achievement is your recognition that we may have assisted your hard work in achieving a successful outcome.