Duke Elder Undergraduate Prize Examination

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists will again sponsor a prize examination for undergraduates. This will be held on Wednesday 18 September 2024 at 2:30pm. The exam will be delivered online, to the candidate in their own home, whilst monitored by a live exam proctor via webcam. The exam is offered to any medical student worldwide, who will need to apply via their medical school.

Candidates are strongly recommended to read the:

• Duke Elder Candidate Info Pack Sept 2024
• Duke Elder Online Proctored Exam FAQS
• Remote Invigilation Candidate User Guide

Please note that from 2024, the Duke Elder examination will be moved to September instead of March each year. For 2024 and this transition, medical students who are in their final year 2023-24 will be permitted to sit the exam in September 2024.

The Duke Elder Undergraduate Prize

Candidates scoring in the top 10% will score 2 points towards their national ophthalmology training application and 0.5 points for being in the 60%. (40th centile or a pass in 2016 or earlier Duke Elder sittings)

https://severndeanery.nhs.uk/recruitment/vacancies/show/oph-st1-25/evidence-folder-lib

All candidates will receive their percentage score and ranking – in groups of 10%. The top 10% of candidates will receive special commendation – this is in the form of an email addressed from the President of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and is sent to each of the top 10% candidates.

What is the structure of the exam?

The examination will take the form of a single paper of 90 multiple choice questions. There will be a time limit of 2 hours.

How do I book the exam?

The College sends the exam information pack to medical schools in April 2024. Candidates should then submit their names and email addresses to Clinical Deans or other appropriate officers at their medical school who will then send us the list of names,

The closing date for candidate applications is Monday 13 May 2024. Candidates must apply via their medical school. Once the College has received the list of student names, they will be sent the payment link to pay for the exam.

Unfortunately we cannot accept late applications and there are no exceptions.

Please refer to the Examinations Terms and Conditions before booking the exam.

How much is the exam fee?

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists will then liaise directly with candidates, as confirmed by their medical school, regarding payment of the £50 examination fee. Examination fees should not be submitted to your medical school.

The deadline for fee payment is 5pm on Monday 10 June 2024. This has now passed. Candidates who have not paid will not have a place at the examination.

Associate Membership of RCOphth

Duke Elder candidates are eligible to apply for Associate Membership of the RCOphth. This membership offers benefits to medical students and foundation doctors. Full information can be found here.

Key information for candidates

Plagiarism

The College takes very seriously any attempt at cheating including the copying and intended sharing of exam questions. Candidates are strictly forbidden to copy the exam questions in any way and this includes taking screenshots or photographs of the screen. The proctoring system will flag up any security breach such as this and the candidate will unequivocally be disqualified from the examination for misconduct and their medical school informed of the breach.

Non-attendance

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists runs the Duke Elder Undergraduate Prize Examination for UK and Eire medical students at an operating loss in an effort to be inclusive and to encourage learning of ophthalmology in greater depth.

We remain very happy to provide this examination for medical students at a low fee but under such circumstances we are both disappointed and out of pocket when candidates either fail to attend, or attend and then void the examination. We would therefore like to encourage all medical students who enrol for the examination to sit the examination unless there are genuine extenuating circumstances.

We would also like to encourage medical schools to impress upon their students the importance of commitment. We will henceforth feedback, for information only, the names of those students that either failed to sit or voided the examination, to their educational institutions.

Requests for reasonable adjustments

Candidates must be aware that any requests for any form of reasonable adjustments for the examination (such as extra time) MUST be submitted BEFORE the deadline for fee payment, accompanied by the required evidence (e.g. letter from an educational psychologist). Requests made after the deadline for fee payment will not be accepted and no exceptions will be made.

Timeline

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