UEMS Section of SurgeryUEMS Section of Surgery
| Date | Place | Application deadline |
| May 8th (written) and May 15th (oral) | Online | March 27th |
Applications are now open!
All candidates – including new candidates and those who postponed or failed previously – must apply through the QuizOne dedicated web-platform accessible through the buttons below. Applications by any other means are not accepted.
Please note that once the deadline date to apply is passed, no application will then be possible and acceptable by any means.
Before clicking the “Apply” button, please carefully read the EBSQ policies and Eligibility criteria and ensure that you are ready to submit all required documents.
We do not accept any document as support to applications by any other means than uploaded on the dedicated web-platform. Any document sent by any other means including by email will not be considered as part of an application.
Ensure that you pay the registration fee and submit all the required documents before the deadline. Payment of the examination fee can be made after the deadline, within two weeks of notification of your eligibility (sent by e-mail).
We kindly encourage applicants to submit their documents and payment as early as possible. Do not wait last minute to finalise your application.
Candidates are responsible for their own application and its follow-up. Checking up regularly emails, and junk emails, is highly recommended – the UEMS Section of Surgery will not be responsible for any missed information sent via email.
Please note that the UpperGI EBSQ Examination takes place in the English language.
You wish to apply to the EBSQ Examination in UpperGI Surgery for the first time or you were assessed as not eligible in a previous attempt to participate to the exam.
You are a new candidate. Please click below:
You didn’t succeed once in a previous session of EBSQ Examination in UpperGI Surgery and you want to give it another try?
Please click below:
You were assessed eligible in a previous session of EBSQ Examination in UpperGI Surgery, you were not able to attend the Examination and you want to attend the 2023 session?
Please click below:
To apply for certification as Fellow of the European Board of Surgery (FEBS) in the specialty of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery offered by the “European Board of Surgery” and the “Division of UpperGI Surgery” a candidate has to undergo a two-step quality validation process: Eligibility (Part I) and Examination (Part II).
A candidate successfully passing the Eligibility and Examination will be qualified as: Fellow of the European Board of Surgery – F.E.B.S. Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery.
The Fellowship of the UEMS is a significant high-level indication of professional competence and excellence.
The FEBS in UpperGI Surgery reflects the ongoing important European standardisation, harmonisation and quality assurance process in medicine.
At present, the fellowship of itself has no automatic legal recognition in the European Union or any other country. Individual recognition of qualifications by the national authorities is supported by the EBSQ committee and the number of countries officially adopting the Board exam is continuously rising. The future perspective of this European diploma is to be seen in unanimous legalization within the ongoing project of the European harmonization process of medical education.
The title does not in itself imply an automatic right to independent practice, nor does it automatically enhance participation in national social security systems of the European Union.
The candidate for the EBSQ title in UpperGI Surgery should be a future opinion leader in Trauma surgery.
For details on the organisation and the rules attached to the EBSQ examination in Oesophagogastric Surgery, please read carefully the following document:
The number of examinees in each exam is limited.
Eligibility of an application will only be reviewed by the board once all required documents are provided and the Eligibility fee has been paid.
Once these conditions are met, applications are treated by “first-come, first-served” principle. Incomplete applications or unpaid fees will result in delay of evaluation of your application.
Please read the instructions carefully and submit all required documents to support your application.
In order to check the eligibility of any application, we request that each applicant download and fill in the Application form and the logbook that you can download below.
These documents should be then uploaded on the platform during the registration process.
Candidates must attach the following documents to their online registration on the UEMS Surgery platform:
The candidates’ individual log-books have to fulfill the UEMS criteria. In the logbook for each item patient’s initials (or hospital admission number), type of procedure, date of procedure and approval with signature by independent expert have to be provided.
Details on the eligibility requirements specific to the logbook are available in this document:
The total fee for the EBSQ examination in UpperGI Surgery is €700:
Payments must be made via Paypal directly on the QuizOne web platform dedicated to registrations.
The eligibility fee is to be paid when the applicant registers for the certification.
The examination fee should be paid once the eligibility of the applicant has been confirmed, within two weeks following confirmation of selection, to finalise the registration for the examination.
All fees paid are non-refundable. The exam fee may be transferred to another exam sitting if more than 30 days’ notice is given.
For those who have been assessed eligible, you may postpone for up to 24 months without having to pass and pay the eligibility assessment again. After 24 months you must go through the eligibility assessment again.
Failing the written exam, a new attempt in the forthcoming exams is possible, the resit fee is €350.
Failing the oral exam, a new attempt in the forthcoming exams is possible, the resit fee is €350.
Cancellation/Postponement up to 30 days before the exam:
Cancellation/Postponement less than 30 days before the exam:
Reasonable cancellations within 30 days of the exam will be considered on a case by case basis at the discretion of the Board of Examination. Supporting documentation is required.
For those who have been assessed eligible, you may postpone for up to 24 months without having to pass and pay the eligibility assessment again. After 24 months you must go through the eligibility assessment again and pay its fee.
All fees paid are non-refundable. The exam fee may be transferred to another exam sitting if more than 30 days’ notice is given.
It is assumed that Fellows are responsible persons and are therefore trusted to take good care of their Certificates. New Certificates will not be re-issued in case of loss.
The Examination includes a MCQ test with at least 100 items and an OSCE circuit with at least 6 stations.
The MCQ test includes up to 150 questions, not less than 100 questions. The time frame for the MC test is 3-5 hours.
In the MCQ session the candidates have to demonstrated sufficient knowledge of OG surgery.
The MCQ-answers are selected by the committee from a catalogue respecting a numeric distribution following the “Blueprint OG Surg” categories .
The question items may include relevant pictures (e.g. graphs, photographs, radiological pictures).
4 types of questions are used for the MCQ-test :
About 70% of question are A type (Aneg below 20%), about 15% are Kprim and about 5% are E type.
The type of the question is clear from the structure, the wording and the number and expression of items. For each correct answer in A and E questions 2 points are given. Three correct answers in a Kprim question are given 1 point.
For details on the proportion of questions from each category that candidates will be asked in the examination, please download the Blueprint:
The purpose of the OSCE circuit is on process thinking and judgment and the focus is on decision making. The candidates are faced with cases and/or clinical pathways representing the breadth of OG surgery. The circuit may include the evaluation of relevant manual skills (e.g. simulation).
The clinical pathways presented are structured beforehand and constitute common problems seen in UpperGI surgery practice. The cases follow real clinical situations; patients are anonymized.
In the OSCE circuit candidates should be able to answer not only what they would do and how, but why.
The circuit consists of a 6 stations (10 min each; total duration of circuit: 60 min) where candidates will be confronted with clinical situations.
Each candidate will visit each station where he/she will be assessed by an examiner and may be asked to give an oral or written answer respectively.
The circuit will include all types of laboratory investigations, x-rays, CT, MRI, endoscopical and ultrasonography scans and pictures from typical clinical situations to interpret.
The candidates may also be asked to demonstrate practical abilities.
The EBS’ decision regarding certification is not based upon any preset pass/fail rate, but solely upon the aggregate evaluation of the examiners.
A total of up to 600 points can be achieved in the Board Exam, up to 300 points in the MCQ test (2 or 1 points per question) and 200-300 points in the OSCE circuit (50 points per station).
The threshold for passing the exam is 75%, which means at least a total of 450 points.
Appeals against the decision of the Board of Examiners are possible.
An unsuccessful candidate is entitled to another chance to take the exam that he/she failed within 24 months. After 24 months he/she must go through the eligibility assessment again.
For more information on the Examination Format :
