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Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) Syllabus

Postgraduate exam required for anaesthesia trainees to progress through UK specialty training.. The complete Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) outline — 6 subjects, 33 chapters and 185 topics — laid out so you can see exactly what has to be covered and tick each item off as you go.

6Subjects

33Chapters

185Topics

131Sub-topics

338Flashcards

~165hEst. first pass

Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) subjects

Each subject below has its own page with the full chapter → topic → sub-topic tree and a set of real exam-style flashcards.

Physiology and Biochemistry

6 chapters · 35 topics · 43 sub-topics

~35h first pass · 52 flashcards Pharmacology

6 chapters · 33 topics · 29 sub-topics

~30h first pass · 50 flashcards Physics, Clinical Measurement and Statistics

5 chapters · 27 topics · 24 sub-topics

~25h first pass · 79 flashcards General and Clinical Anaesthesia

6 chapters · 35 topics · 18 sub-topics

~30h first pass · 51 flashcards Subspecialty Anaesthesia

5 chapters · 29 topics · 10 sub-topics

~25h first pass · 51 flashcards Intensive Care, Pain Medicine and Resuscitation

5 chapters · 26 topics · 7 sub-topics

~20h first pass · 55 flashcards

Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) flashcard decks

338 question-and-answer cards across 6 decks, written against this syllabus. Preview any deck free.

How to work through the Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) syllabus

The outline on this page is arranged the way the syllabus itself is: subject, then chapter, then topic, then sub-topic. That last level is what most study plans skip, and it is where coverage actually goes wrong — a chapter marked "done" often has three sub-topics inside it that were never touched.

Weight your plan accordingly: Physiology and Biochemistry carries 35 topics while Intensive Care, Pain Medicine and Resuscitation carries 26. Giving both the same number of weeks is the most common planning mistake for Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA).

The ~165 hour estimate above is a first pass only: roughly 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic. Revision cycles, past papers and mocks sit on top of that number.

Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) syllabus FAQ

What subjects are in the Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) syllabus?

Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) covers 6 subjects: Physiology and Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Physics, Clinical Measurement and Statistics, General and Clinical Anaesthesia, Subspecialty Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Pain Medicine and Resuscitation. Together they contain 33 chapters and 185 named topics.

How big is the Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) syllabus?

The full Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) outline breaks down into 33 chapters, 185 topics and 131 sub-topics. Physiology and Biochemistry is the largest single subject with 35 topics across 6 chapters.

How long does it take to cover the whole Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) syllabus?

Roughly 165 hours for one full pass. That estimate allows about 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic, so it is first-pass coverage — revision, past papers and mock tests sit on top of it. At 3 hours a day that is about 8 weeks.

Are there Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) flashcards?

Yes — 338 question-and-answer flashcards across 6 decks, one per subject, written against this syllabus. A sample of every deck is readable on this site for free, and the complete decks are in the Examius app.

Is this Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) syllabus free to use?

Yes. Every page here is free to read, and importing the Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) syllabus into the Examius app to tick off topics as you finish them is free too, in United Kingdom and everywhere else. No account is needed to start.

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