FCPS Part-1 study guide
FCPS Part-1 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
FCPS Part-I is the first examination stage in the Fellowship programme of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP), a postgraduate medical college that awards fellowships across medical, surgical and dental disciplines. Part-I is the entry gate: candidates sit it before progressing into structured specialty training, so it is intended for medical graduates who have chosen a specialty faculty and are working toward Fellowship status. CPSP's Examination Department describes its formats as developed by the relevant faculties and updated periodically, so the exact paper pattern and syllabus for any sitting are set by the faculty prospectus and revised notifications rather than by a single fixed blueprint. Broadly, Part-I tests the basic and clinical sciences underpinning the chosen specialty. Topics on this exam: Basic Sciences (as defined by the relevant specialty faculty curriculum) and Clinical Sciences (as defined by the relevant specialty faculty curriculum). The FCPS Part-1 study guide has 2 sections and about 725 words.
01Basic Sciences for the FCPS Part-1
The basic sciences in this exam are applied, not declarative. You must move fluently between structure, function and failure: embryology and gross anatomy as the substrate for surgical and medical presentations; histology as the bridge to pathology; physiology as the logic behind clinical signs; biochemistry and molecular biology as the basis of inherited and metabolic disease; pharmacology as receptor physiology plus kinetics; and behavioural science with biostatistics as the language of evidence.
368 words, about 2 min02Clinical Sciences for the FCPS Part-1
Clinical-science items present a short vignette and ask for the most likely diagnosis, the next best step, the mechanism of a sign, or the most appropriate management. The exam expects a structured approach: define the syndrome from the dominant problem (pain, breathlessness, bleeding, weakness, fever, weight loss), localise it anatomically or physiologically, then match to the likeliest pathology.
357 words, about 2 min