There are a number of books on Multiple Choice Questions (with answers) for candidates taking the FRCA examination. These include books published by the Royal College of Anaesthetists itself for both the Primary and the Final FRCA examinations.
This book follows the usual pattern of questions followed by answers in a separate section. The book itself is divided into two sections. There is an initial section of 260 questions followed by section 2 which has 5 practice papers of 90 questions each. Although the initial section contains only 260 questions, the questions in the practice papers add further volume to the overall bank of questions.
The 260 questions in the first section are divided into 10 questions on anatomy, 128 on physiology, 66 on pharmacology, 44 on physics and 12 on other subjects. The physiology section is split into different sub-sections dealing with the cardiovascular, the respiratory, the liver, the central nervous systems and a sub-section on general physiology. I could not find any questions on renal physiology. The pharmacology part is relatively small with a total of 66 questions all grouped together in a somewhat uneven pattern.
Although the questions conform to the usual FRCA examination style there is some imbalance in the content. I found very few questions on opioids which is a big area in the examination and some of the questions related to drugs such as nalbuphine and propoxyphene are probably not relevant now. There are also fewer questions on the pharmacology on the basic aspects of drug action such as pharmacokinetics, receptor classification and drug-receptor interactions. There are also not many questions on newer local anaesthetics.
I would regard this as an average book which has questions which many of which do not examine the knowledge in depth. It will however be useful for candidates for practice so that they can perfect their timing etc. It should also be remembered that the candidates still need a good textbook knowledge to be able to do the MCQs. The content and the depth of the questions might reflect the relative lack of experience of the authors in the examination process and the technique, but overall, the book is good value for £19.95.