RANZCR phase 2 examinations

The RANZCR Phase 2 examinations are a set of written and oral examinations that are typically first attempted in the third year of radiology training, and are one of the requirements for the awarding of Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (FRANZCR).

In order to be eligible to sit the Phase 2 examinations, trainees must have successfully completed the RANZCR Phase 1 examinations, as well as all the other training requirements of Phase 1 (which comprises the first 12 to 24 months of training). Trainees have a maximum of six consecutive opportunities to complete all written and oral Phase 2 examinations.

The examinations are held twice a year: 

• written examinations: February and July (results released in April and September)
• Objective Structured Clinical Examination in Radiology (OSCER) examinations: early June and early November (results released in late June and late November)

Since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the written examinations have been delivered via online proctoring. The OSCER examinations are currently held at the AMC National Testing Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

Written examinations

There are 3 written examinations which are held over two consecutive days and delivered electronically. Trainees must pass the written examinations before they are eligible to sit the OSCER examinations.

The pathology examination is a 3 hour examination consisting of:

• 10 short answer questions (two general questions and one question per topic area, worth 6 marks per question)
• 100 multiple choice questions (best of five possible answers, worth 1 mark per question)

The clinical radiology examinations consist of two components:

• multiple choice examination
  • one 2 hour examination consisting of 100 multiple choice questions (best of five possible answers, worth 1 mark per question)
• case reporting examination
  • one 3 hour examination consisting of:
    • short cases (20 questions, worth 3 marks per question)
    • medium cases (10 questions, worth 3 marks per question)
    • long cases (5 questions, worth 12 marks per question)

Objective Structured Clinical Examination in Radiology (OSCER) examinations

The OSCER examinations consist of seven viva stations:

• abdominal
• neuroradiology / head and neck
• thoracic and cardiovascular
• breast
• obstetrics and gynaecology
• musculoskeletal
• paediatrics

Each station is 25 minutes long, with typically 8-105-12 digital cases per station. The OSCER examinations are held over four consecutive days, however each candidate completes all seven stations within a single 4 hour block.

NB: Details are correct at the time of writing. Please check with RANZCR for updated details.