# Practising for Plastic Surgery (FRCS Plast Surg oral) with MedMock

Canonical page: https://medmock.com/exams/plastic-surgery-frcs-plast-surg-oral

## What is the FRCS Plast Surg viva, and how do you practise for it?

JCIE Intercollegiate Section 2 — three 30-minute orals sweeping burns, hand & upper-limb trauma, facial soft tissue and craniomaxillofacial trauma, lower-limb reconstruction, head & neck oncology and reconstruction, facial palsy, cleft lip & palate, craniofacial deformity, congenital hand and ear, breast & chest wall, perineal & GU reconstruction, pressure sores, generic techniques and complex wounds, aesthetics, skin cancer, sarcoma, vascular anomalies, and ethics / general professional capability. The Short Cases session, in which clinical scenarios are discussed without a patient, is included. The full exam also holds a 30-minute long case and a 30-minute medium case with patients present; those require examining a patient, so they are not simulated here. MedMock lets you practise it out loud against an AI examiner, with examiner-style feedback on any question you finish.

## What happens in the real FRCS Plast Surg (checked against the official source on 2026-09-27)

Section 2 of the FRCS (Plastic Surgery) is the clinical part of the exam, taken after passing the written Section 1. It has three 30-minute clinical sessions: long cases, in which two volunteer patients are seen, medium cases, in which three are seen, and short cases, in which five clinical scenarios are discussed. There are also three 30-minute orals, each covering three themes: trauma, burns and the adult upper limb; acute head and neck tumours, congenital anomalies and trunk and perineal reconstruction; and generic techniques, complex wounds, vascular anomalies and aesthetics, skin cancer and sarcoma, and general professional capability. Examiners mark against the JCIE's marking descriptors on a scale of 4 to 8, and the pass standard is set at the level of a day one consultant in the generality of the specialty.

- **Clinical: Long Cases** (30 minutes): One 30-minute session in which two volunteers are seen. Volunteers are past or present patients relevant to the specialty, recruited by the host examiner.
- **Clinical: Medium Cases** (30 minutes): One 30-minute session in which three volunteers are seen.
- **Clinical: Short Cases** (30 minutes): One 30-minute session in which five clinical scenarios are discussed.
- **Oral: Trauma / Burns / Adult Upper Limb** (30 minutes): Three themes in one 30-minute oral: the assessment, resuscitation and initial management of burns, their surgical management and the management of complications; all aspects of upper limb trauma and the management of acute and chronic upper limb pathology; and facial soft tissue injuries, craniomaxillofacial trauma and lower limb trauma.
- **Oral: Acute Head & Neck Tumours / Congenital Anomalies / Trunk & Perineal Reconstruction** (30 minutes): Three themes in one 30-minute oral: excisional surgery for benign and malignant head and neck disease, major head and neck reconstruction and facial palsy; cleft lip and palate, craniofacial deformities and congenital hand and ear deformities; and perineal and genitourinary reconstruction (including hypospadias), breast and chest wall reconstruction and pressure sores.
- **Oral: Generic Techniques, Complex Wounds, Vascular Anomalies & Aesthetics / Skin Cancer & Sarcoma / General Professional Capability** (30 minutes): Three themes in one 30-minute oral: generic plastic surgery techniques, complex wound management and aesthetics; skin cancer, sarcoma and vascular anomalies; and ethical and medico-legal issues: consent, critical incident management, complaint management, safeguarding and colleague issue management.

Marking: Examiners use the JCIE marking descriptors, a rating scale from 4 to 8 covering basic knowledge, higher order processing, clinical skills and professionalism. A 4 describes poor basic knowledge and a lack of understanding to a level of concern; a 6 describes competent knowledge, no major errors and safe practice; an 8 describes excellent basic knowledge and knowing the breadth and depth of the topic.

Passing: The JCIE states that the pass mark is set at the level of a day one consultant in the generality of the specialty. It does not publish a numerical pass mark for Section 2 or how the marks are combined.

Sources: https://www.jcie.org.uk/Utils/DocumentGenerator.aspx?Type=CMS&docID=a83b4967-9b04-4c03-9862-dd2544933dce https://www.jcie.org.uk/content/content.aspx?ID=19 https://www.jcie.org.uk/Utils/DocumentGenerator.aspx?Type=CMS&docID=22c6b1f7-3858-43da-ba59-56875459b751 https://www.jcie.org.uk/Utils/DocumentGenerator.aspx?Type=CMS&docID=386bbc69-2612-4727-8ed5-a0d8808ba9e7 https://www.jcie.org.uk/Utils/DocumentGenerator.aspx?Type=CMS&docID=58EA3EC7-DE60-4160-9D15-D8757F511D14 https://www.jcie.org.uk/content/content.aspx?ID=4 https://www.jcie.org.uk/Utils/DocumentGenerator.aspx?Type=CMS&docID=52bb7306-cbbd-4bd9-ba1e-f3d597feeb03 https://www.jcie.org.uk/content/content.aspx?ID=6 https://www.jcie.org.uk/content/content.aspx?ID=10
Full format page: https://medmock.com/exams/plastic-surgery-frcs-plast-surg-oral/format

Upcoming sittings: from 11 March 2027 (venue to be confirmed); from 16 September 2027 (venue to be confirmed) (source: JCIE (the four surgical Royal Colleges), checked 2026-09-23).
All FRCS Plast Surg dates: https://medmock.com/exams/plastic-surgery-frcs-plast-surg-oral#dates

## Stations you can practise

- **Trauma / Burns / Adult Upper Limb** — Anatomy, classification, clinical management, and operative principles across burns assessment & resuscitation, surgical management of burns and complications; all aspects of upper-limb trauma and chronic upper-limb pathology; facial soft tissue injuries, craniomaxillofacial trauma, and lower-limb trauma.
- **Acute Head & Neck Tumours / Congenital Anomalies / Trunk & Perineal Reconstruction** — Anatomy, classification, clinical management, and operative principles across head & neck excisional surgery and major reconstruction, facial palsy; cleft lip and palate, craniofacial deformity, congenital hand deformity, congenital ear deformity; perineal and GU reconstruction including hypospadias, breast and chest wall reconstruction, and pressure sore management.
- **Generic Techniques, Complex Wounds, Vascular Anomalies & Aesthetics / Skin Cancer & Sarcoma / General Professional Capability** — Anatomy, classification, clinical management, and operative principles across generic plastic surgery techniques, complex wound management, aesthetics; skin cancer, sarcoma, vascular anomalies; and general professional capability — ethical and medico-legal issues, consent, critical incident management, complaints, safeguarding, and colleague issue management.
- **Short Cases** — Short Cases session: five clinical scenarios discussed with the examiners, one after another. No patient is present.

## Sample FRCS Plast Surg questions

- *Generic Techniques, Complex Wounds, Vascular Anomalies & Aesthetics / Skin Cancer & Sarcoma / General Professional Capability:* A 60-year-old considering aesthetic rhinoplasty. Discuss professional considerations.
- *Short Cases:* A 45-year-old woman presents five days after abdominoplasty with dusky discolouration and partial-thickness necrosis of the lower abdominal skin flap. Discuss your assessment and management.

## Example scenarios

- *Trauma / Burns / Adult Upper Limb:* Discuss your fluid resuscitation, excisional strategy, and reconstructive plan for a 70 kg adult with 38% TBSA mixed-depth flame burns including circumferential upper-limb involvement — including escharotomy thresholds, ABA depth classification, and your indications for early tangential excision.
- *Acute Head & Neck Tumours / Congenital Anomalies / Trunk & Perineal Reconstruction:* Talk us through your reconstructive options and operative sequence for a 4 cm full-thickness defect of the lower lip after Mohs excision of a SCC, including the orbicularis oris anatomy, oral commissure preservation, and your justification for choosing primary closure vs Karapandzic vs Abbe vs free radial forearm.
- *Generic Techniques, Complex Wounds, Vascular Anomalies & Aesthetics / Skin Cancer & Sarcoma / General Professional Capability:* A 34-year-old returns 8 weeks after bilateral breast augmentation reporting asymmetry and a heavy lumpy feel on the right. Walk through your differential including Baker grading of capsular contracture, your investigation pathway, and how you would conduct the Duty-of-Candour discussion.

## How a practice session works

1. **Choose a question** — Pick from the FRCS Plast Surg questions — all 4 that MedMock runs, or let MedMock surprise you the way exam day will.
2. **Have the conversation** — Speak naturally, out loud. The AI examiner listens, follows up and probes further, exactly like the viva.
3. **Get instant feedback** — The moment you finish, you get specific, examiner-style feedback and a score — what you did well, what cost you marks, and precisely what to fix before the next attempt.

## Price

Start with a one-off £5 taster: 30 credits (30 minutes of speaking practice), not a subscription. After that, or instead, £119 per month for 600 credits. One credit is one minute of spoken practice, or two typed exchanges, and where the examiner or patient speaks first, that opening line is free. Examiner scorecards, mark schemes and model answers for finished sessions are included at no extra credit cost. Cancel at any time. Full details: https://medmock.com/pricing

## Frequently asked questions

### How does the feedback work?

When you finish a question you can have it marked, and the scorecard comes back in seconds — what you did well, what cost you marks, and exactly what to work on next. Scorecards, mark schemes and model answers are included at no extra credit cost.

### Can I practise specific FRCS Plast Surg questions?

Yes. You can pick any of the 4 questions to drill a weak area, or run a mixed set to simulate the real exam.

### How much does it cost?

You can start with a one-off £5 taster: 30 credits, which is 30 minutes of speaking practice, with no subscription. After that, or at any time, you can choose a monthly plan, which includes a monthly credit allowance. Current prices are on the pricing page.

## About MedMock

MedMock is a web app for practising the spoken parts of UK medical and dental exams and interviews out loud. The candidate talks; an AI patient, examiner or interview panel answers in real time by voice; and when the station ends MedMock marks the performance against that exam's assessment domains and shows the model answer.

It covers 104 spoken exams and interviews — OSCEs, vivas, structured oral exams, simulated consultations, and specialty-training and consultant interviews. It does not cover written or multiple-choice papers, and it is not a question bank.

It was founded by Mr Sam Nahas, MBBS BSc MEd FRCS (Tr & Orth), a practising consultant orthopaedic surgeon in the UK, with co-founder and CTO Arjan Jandu. It is operated by VirtualPatients Ltd (company no. 16303492).

Pricing: a one-off £5 taster of 30 credits to try it (not a subscription, one per account), and a monthly subscription from £20 to £129 depending on the exam (student exams cost least, fellowship exit exams and consultant interviews most), or £199 to £275 for the Intensive plans, which carry more credits. One credit is one minute of spoken practice, or two typed exchanges, and where the examiner or patient speaks first, that opening line is free. Examiner scorecards, mark schemes and model answers for finished sessions are included at no extra credit cost. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time.

It runs in a web browser on a laptop or phone; spoken practice needs a microphone. There is no public demo: practice needs an account with credits, usually from the taster or a monthly plan.

MedMock is for adults aged 18 or over. Sign-up asks every new account to confirm it.

MedMock is a revision tool. The patients, examiners and cases are fictional and AI-generated; it is not clinical guidance and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any Royal College, the GMC, the GDC or any examining body.

Start with the £5 taster: https://medmock.com/auth/signup