Molecular pathology

Candidates will not be permitted to sit the oral and practical examination until the proposal for the written option has been submitted and approved by the examiners. The final project may be submitted either before or after taking the practical and oral examination. 

The examination will consist of two papers: a 3 hour dry practical and a one hour oral. The aim of this examination is to establish that the candidate has demonstrated a level of competence appropriate for independent practice at consultant level. The part 2 is now modular giving the opportunity to resit only the failed component.

The Part 2 practical examination lasts for 3 hours and contains a mixture of analytical, problem-solving and interpretative questions. The questions are mapped to the Molecular Pathology of Acquired Disease HSST curriculum and are designed to cover the breadth of contemporaneous scientific practice across solid cancer and haemato-oncology, including widely-used techniques which complement molecular diagnosis such as FISH. Candidates must answer all questions.

 The Part 2 Oral examination lasts for one hour, consisting of six questions covering covering the entire curriculum including scientific, clinical and management/leadership scenarios.

There are 5 options for the written component:

• a casebook
• a dissertation
• a minimum of 3 refereed published papers
• a PhD/MD thesis, normally completed during the training period
• the C2 research module component of the Manchester Academy for Healthcare Scientist Education DClinSci for Higher Specialist Scientist Training trainees where appropriate.

Note, the casebook should consist of 7–8 cases with a total length, excluding references, in the range of 10,000–20,000 words and would not normally exceed 20,000 words. The research work used for the basis of a dissertation or PhD thesis should be on the topic of molecular pathology. The work should be reasonably up to date. Thus, a PhD obtained before the attainment of the Part 1 examination will probably not be acceptable for submission and the research work done can be rewritten as a dissertation that brings the results and subject matter up to date in the light of current research and publications in the subject. Candidates are required to submit the written work within 3 years of having the proposal approved. Candidates who fail to submit the work within that time will be required to apply for an extension, giving reasons, or submit a new proposal.