Eligibility & Exemptions

To sit the FFICM Exam you must be successfully registered with the Faculty in one of the  membership categories;

  • ICM Trainee
  • Affiliate Fellow
  • Member (MFICM)
  • Associate Member
  • MTI (are required to register as an 'Affiliate' of the Faculty)

For ICM Trainees we ask that you are in the following Stage of Training at the time of application:

Joint CCT Trainees should have completed Intermediate ICM training 
  • 3 months basic ICM
  • 6 months Intermediate ICM
  • 6 months complimentary (dependent on your base Specialty)
Single ICM Trainees should have completed Stage 1 ICM training in its entirety as follows and have been issued with a Stage 1 certificate
  • 12 months ICM
  • 12 months Medicine
  • 12 months Anaesthesia
  • 12 months additional

Dual ICM Trainees should have completed Stage 1 ICM training in its entirety, including their partner specialty requirements and have been issued with a Stage 1 certificate.

Please see the relevant summary table in your respective dual guidance programmes to quickly check your eligibility. 

*Training Exceptions*

The Faculty has decided that it will, on a case-by-case basis, listen to requests from trainees who wish to sit the MCQ component of the FFICM in the very late phase of their Stage 1 training.  This is on the proviso that the MCQ sitting in question falls in the last seven weeks* of the trainee’s Stage 1 training and that the trainee’s Regional Advisor confirms that the trainee is on course to complete all of their required Stage 1 capabilities.

*If you are Less Than Full Time (LTFT) the 7 week rule can be extended to be commensurate with the percentage you are working LTFT. E.g. If you are working 70% LTFT then you need to be within 10 calendar weeks of completing Stage 1 for the exam sitting applied for.

If you are unsure whether you are eligible to sit the examination, please contact the Faculty Exams team via FacultyExams@rcoa.ac.uk 

is eligible for full registration with the General Medical Council (United Kingdom) and:

Either:

  • is currently registered with the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine as a trainee in a Deanery approved training post on a GMC approved training programme in Intensive Care Medicine (either as part of a Single, Dual or Joint programme), who has completed Stage 1 ICM (Single/Dual) or Intermediate training (Joint) or;
  • is currently registered with the Faculty of Intensive  Care Medicine as an Affiliate Fellow in a Deanery approved training post on a GMC approved training programme in a specialty of one of the Faculty’s parent Colleges, or;
  • is a specialty/SAS Grade Doctor who is currently practicing Intensive Care Medicine in the UK for one continuous year prior to the date of the examination applied for and is a member of the Faculty and holds a satisfactory NHS appraisal; or
  • is currently sponsored under the MTI IP; and been employed in Intensive Care Medicine in a NHS post for six months immediately prior to the date of the examination applied for and holds a satisfactory NHS appraisal.* And

*A doctor who has completed their MTI sponsorship and during their sponsorship passed one or more components of the FFICM, will  be allowed to sit outstanding component(s) for one further year, measured from the completion date of their sponsorship providing they remain eligible in all other respects.  No further adjustments to eligibility will be made after the extended period has elapsed.   

  • has passed any of the following examinations:
    • FRCA Final
    • FRCA Primary
    • MRCP (UK)
    • EDIC
    • MRCEM Primary (replaced the FRCEM Primary and MCEM Part A), MRCEM SBA (replaced the MRCEM Intermediate SBA, FRCEM Intermediate SAQ and MCEM Part B), MRCEM OSCE (replaced the MCEM Part C).1 FRCEM SBA (replaced the FRCEM Final SAQ), FRCEM OSCE (replaced the FRCEM Final Clinical).2

      1Candidates must pass all 3 of the above or their equivalents to be awarded Membership of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (MRCEM) – the exams must be passed in this order.

      2Candidates must pass both of the above exams or their equivalents to be awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (FRCEM) – the exams can be passed in either order.

       

    • or any of the exemption qualifications listed in the regulations of The Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

is eligible for full registration with the General Medical Council (United Kingdom) and:

Either:

  • is currently registered with the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine as a trainee in a Deanery approved training post on a GMC approved training programme in Intensive Care Medicine (either as part of a Single, Dual or Joint programme), who has completed Stage 1 ICM (Single/Dual) or Intermediate training (Joint) or;
  • is currently registered with the Faculty of Intensive  Care Medicine as an Affiliate Fellow in a Deanery approved training post on a GMC approved training programme in a specialty of one of the Faculty’s parent Colleges, or;
  • is a specialty/SAS Grade Doctor who is currently practicing Intensive Care Medicine in the UK for one continuous year prior to the date of the examination applied for and is a member of the Faculty and holds a satisfactory NHS appraisal; or
  • is currently sponsored under the MTI IP; and been employed in Intensive Care Medicine in a NHS post for six months immediately prior to the date of the examination applied for and holds a satisfactory NHS appraisal.*  And

*A doctor who has completed their MTI sponsorship and during their sponsorship passed one or more components of the FFICM, will  be allowed to sit outstanding component(s) for one further year, measured from the completion date of their sponsorship providing they remain eligible in all other respects.  No further adjustments to eligibility will be made after the extended period has elapsed.   

  • has passed any of the following examinations ;
    • FRCA Final
    • FRCA Primary
    • MRCP (UK)
    • EDIC
    • MRCEM Primary (replaced the FRCEM Primary and MCEM Part A), MRCEM SBA (replaced the MRCEM Intermediate SBA, FRCEM Intermediate SAQ and MCEM Part B), MRCEM OSCE (replaced the MCEM Part C).1 FRCEM SBA (replaced the FRCEM Final SAQ), FRCEM OSCE (replaced the FRCEM Final Clinical).2

      1Candidates must pass all 3 of the above or their equivalents to be awarded Membership of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (MRCEM) – the exams must be passed in this order.

      2Candidates must pass both of the above exams or their equivalents to be awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (FRCEM) – the exams can be passed in either order

       

    • or any of the exemption qualifications listed in the regulations of The Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine  AND 
  • has passed the MCQ within three years preceding the closing date of the sitting applied for.