Sunway Medical Centre, Sunway City Facilitates Frcs (neurosurgery) Viva Course For Surgeons In Training

KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 (Bernama) -- The Royal Colleges of Surgeons [FRCS (Neurosurgery)] Viva Course was recently organised by Sunway Medical Centre, Sunway City (SMC) encompassing numerous modules as a comprehensive run-through practice.

SMC in a statement said the two-day course also allowed neurosurgeons in training to gain hands-on and practical experience with realistic viva scenarios specifically designed in the FRCS exam format.

“With SMC Consultant Neurosurgeon Dr Syed Abdullah Al-Haddad leading the course, a team of 14 FRCS faculty members served as examiners and observers to 12 participants hailing from Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

“The two-day session was specially catered to those preparing for the FRCS (Hong Kong/Singapore) and the International Neurosurgical Specialist examinations where they have the opportunity to gain insights from the examiners,” it said adding that the FRCS faculty members included distinguished consultants from Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and Singapore, among others.

SMC also highlighted that the course provides a platform for examiners and examinees alike to share and gain knowledge from one another.

“This initiative further demonstrates SMC’s ongoing commitment to foster a mindset of knowledge sharing and continued growth, on top of being the hub for patient-focused innovative treatments and comprehensive clinical services.

“The course also promotes interactive learning, dynamic discussions, and the provision of personalised feedback. The first day covered the fundamentals and preparations for clinical courses while the second day focused on viva courses, where examinees answer questions verbally rather than in written format,” SMC said.

Meanwhile, Dr Syed who is also the course convener said the course objective is to provide a space for candidates to experience and react to near real-life scenarios.

“It is not just preparing them for the assessments, but most crucially, to implement learnings into their practice, beyond the confines of the examination rooms,” he said.

With almost 28 years of medical expertise experience abroad, Dr Syed specialises in brain tumour resections using intraoperative mapping and awake brain surgery using real-time image guidance and has vast experience of working alongside interdisciplinary teams during surgery.

He focuses on spinal degenerative diseases, cranial and spinal trauma, facial pain and hydrocephalus.

He was also the founder and former director of the highly successful Aberdeen FRCS (SN) viva course and has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, including as an author of a neurosurgical examination textbook.

-- BERNAMA