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If you are a Fellow, Member or Diplomate and have not already received your access details, please contact our office: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Annual subscriptions are now available to pay online. For online payment, please visit our online portal.
Fellows, Members, Diplomates and Affiliates in good standing can enjoy a range of benefits and services including exclusive access to the Faculty's online self service portal, preferential rates for educational events and access to educational resources. View the list of benefits here.
The Faculty of Dentistry provides education and examinations at postgraduate level. If you are interested in studying undergradaute dentistry at RCSI, please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Faculty offers a number of postgraduate dental examinations and further information in relation to these examinations is available here. The Faculty also offers a number of postgraduate dental education courses which count towards the yearly requirements for CPD as laid down by the Dental Council. For those who are preparing for Faculty examinations, these courses provide much of the necessary information and support required. View our upcoming courses here.
All RCSI employment opportunities are advertised here.
The RCSI professional examinations calendar can be viewed here.
Candidates withdrawing from an examination must do so in writing before the closing date. The entrance fee will be returned less a 20% administrative charge. Candidates who withdraw from the examination after the closing date or who fail to attend the examination for which they have been accepted will not normally be entitled to any refund of the fee. Refusal of the employing authority to allow leave to attend the examination will not be accepted as qualifying for any refund after the closing date. A refund on medical grounds, even if there is a medical certificate, is not normally allowed.
Applications for consideration on medical or compassionate grounds must be supported by the Consultant or Dean responsible for training and must be submitted to the College with any accompanying evidence within 28 days of commencement of the examination.
You will be conferred at the next conferring ceremony, these take place in July and December of each year. Candidates will be contacted in advance of the ceremony with all relevant information. Candidates who do not attend will be conferred in absentia. Parchments will not be made available until you are conferred in Dublin.
All candidates must pay a conferring fee of €250 in order to receive the parchment whether they are attending the ceremony or not. Parchments will be sent via courier once payment is made.
All enquiries should be directed to the RCSI Regulations & Records team by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone: +353 1 402 2222
RCSI cannot assist with visa applications however we can provide a visa support letter which you can attach to your application. This will be issued upon request once you have been accepted to sit the exam.
No, once an exam is closed or a quota is reached we do not accept late applications to sit an exam. Additionally we do not operate a waiting list for exams.
The requirements to present for the FFDRCSI examination are as follows:
- BDS/B Dent Sc. or equivalent basic undergraduate Dental Degree
- MFD/MFDS/MJDF
- Evidence of satisfactory completion of three years full-time (or part-time equivalent not normally exceeding six years) training. Candidates are required to submit certified, documented evidence of their training/relevant hospital positions.
Evidence of satisfactory completion of three years full-time training must be submitted to the Faculty. OSOM & ORD training can be completed in different institutions but evidence of this must be provided at the time of application. For all other specialities training must be completed in the same institution.
Candidates interested in sitting the FFD RCSI examinations must submit their documentation for assessment, during a specified period of time, to the Faculty of Dentistry FFD assessment Portal which can be accessed here.
The assessment portal will open twice a year for a limited period of time. Details of the next assessment widow can be viewed on our Faculty website here.
The Faculty of Dentistry will be in contact with you shortly after you submit your documents for assessment. If you deemed eligible to sit the FFD exam, you will be sent an approval letter which you will need in order to officially apply for the exam and pay your exam fee. You will officially apply for the exam and pay your exam fee through the RCSI postgrad admin system and further details regarding this will be included within your approval letter.
The Faculty intends to run all FFD exam specialties entirely face-to-face in April and November 2022, circumstances permitting. The RCSI professional examinations calendar can be viewed here.
The format of the written part of the examination will include a 90 minute, 15 station OSCE paper, to be followed by 90 minutes of a 10 short answer questions paper. Please note that the length, format and timing of the written papers and other aspects of the examination may be subject to change for operational/health and safety reasons which we will communicate with candidates where applicable. The FFD examination will also include Viva's and case presentations, where relevant, on a face-to-face setting at RCSI in Dublin.
Applicants who withdraw from an examination before the examination closing date will have the application fee refunded, less a 20% administrative charge. Applicants who withdraw after the exam closing date, or who fail to attend, will forfeit the fee paid in full. If work commitments prevent your attendance, the Faculty of Dentistry, RCSI is not responsible for the refund of any part of the application fee. Transfers are not normally permitted.
If you are unable to travel to Ireland for the exam due to a local Covid restriction within your area/Country, your application would be transferred to future exam sitting.
There may be occasions when your attendance is affected by circumstances beyond your normal control. In this instance an application for exceptional circumstances must be submitted as detailed in the Professional Exams – Exceptional Circumstances Policy. Applications of this nature must be made within 14 days of the date of the examination.
It is expected that candidates will have competency of typing at least 40 words per minute. Candidates giving concise knowledge to the questions will have no difficulties finishing the paper within the time allocated for the exam.
Please refer to the Irish Government travel advice website for up to date travel information: https://www.dfa.ie/travel/travel-advice
Please refer to the Irish Government travel advice website for up to date travel guidance: https://www.dfa.ie/travel/travel-advice
In order to become a Fellow of the Faculty of Dentistry, RCSI you must have successfully completed a Fellowship Examination of the Faculty of Dentistry, RCSI. The Fellowship is not normally awarded by affiliation.
If you pass Part A of the examination you will be exempt this section for the following 4 diets.
Candidates who hold a medical degree are exempt from Part A. Please note that only the FFD OSOM and FFD OM have been divided into Part A and Part B. Under the new “on-line” arrangements, the rest of the FFDRCSI Specialties are in a single part (On-line written + face-to-face examination)
No refund of fees or transfer of exam will be allowed once a candidate sits their written papers. Refund/Transfer of fees will only be allowed in advance of the written papers and only in the case that a candidate cannot travel due to Covid restrictions or in the case of very special circumstances.
The Specialist Fellowship Diploma of the Faculty of Dentistry, RCSI is registrable in the Register of Dentists for Ireland as an additional qualification provided that the name of the holder already appears in that Register. Details regarding the registration of the diploma may be obtained from the Registrar, Irish Dental Council, 57 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Ireland. The Diploma does not entitle the holder to admission to the Register of Dental Specialists in Ireland.
Candidates must be in possession of an undergraduate dental qualification recognised by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The examination may be taken at any time following graduation from Dental School.
Yes, the exam is available to all eligible candidates worldwide, once you meet our minimum software/technology requirements. The online MFD Part 1 exam is a great opportunity to allow candidates to complete the exam from the comfort of one’s own home particularly in the current Covid-19 climate. This is a carefully planned new format, which the Faculty of Dentistry, RCSI hopes will continue to allow candidates to be assessed and progress with their careers.
The MFD Part 1 is structured to be 50/50 basic sciences and clinical dentistry. In the Diploma exam, the emphasis on clinical dentistry accounts for approximately 80% of the examination. Both are three hour exams are both have the same exam format of 75 MCQs and 33 SBAs.
As both exams are equivalent, that will be each candidates individual decision. However, the Diploma exam allows you to gain another set of qualifications from RCSI – Diploma of Primary Care Dentistry (RCSI), which MFD Part 1 does not offer. Passing either the Diploma or MFD Part 1 will allow you to sit MFD Part 2 (candidates should normally be a minimum of 12 months graduated from Dental School when presenting for MFD Part 2).
The online exam is taken on a computer using a third party application. Instead of writing answers using pen and paper, or in the case of multiple choice - using bubble sheets, everything is done electronically on a computer, so depending on the questions types used, you might be selecting the answer by clicking your mouse or using your keyboard to enter data.
To access the online MFD Part 1 exam candidates will require the following technology:
• Internet connection (ideally a hardwired ethernet connection, or alternatively Wi-Fi that has a high Mpbs speed)
• Desktop or laptop computer that has 4Gb RAM and has a webcam
• Windows 7+ or Mac 10.8+
The examination fee is €800 (Euros)
You can view and register for our online exams here. Our online exams are very popular and to maintain the quality, we only have a limited capacity for each of the online exams that we run.
No exemptions are offered from any part of the examination.
There is no limit on the number of attempts for this examination. However, examiners may, at their discretion, defer for two years, a candidate whose performance is such that re-examining within such a time is not considered to be in his/her best interest.
We would advise candidates to ideally have a hardwired ethernet connection, or alternatively Wi-Fi that has a high Mpbs speed. You can check your Mpbs speed here - https://www.speedtest.net/
The traditional clinical section/skills station will not take place online. However, some questions may arise in relation to this section.
Candidates should normally be a minimum of 12 months graduated from Dental School when presenting for MFD Part 2. Candidates must be in possession of MFD Part 1 or equivalent (Part 1 MFDS, MJDF) OR possession of the Diploma of Primary Care Dentistry [DipPCDRCSI]. A valid CPR/BLS cert dated within the past 2 years is also a requirement.
Yes, the exam is available to all eligible candidates worldwide, once you meet our minimum software/technology requirements. The online MFD Part 2 exam is a great opportunity to allow candidates to complete the exam from the comfort of one’s own home particularly in the current Covid-19 climate. This is a carefully planned new format, which the Faculty of Dentistry, RCSI hopes will continue to allow candidates to be assessed and progress with their careers.
No, we hope that we will be able to hold face-to-face sittings again in the near future. We may also continue to hold some online sittings to coincide with this.
The online exam is taken on a computer using a third party application. Instead of writing answers using pen and paper, or in the case of multiple choice - using bubble sheets, everything is done electronically on a computer, so depending on the questions types used, you might be selecting the answer by clicking your mouse or using your keyboard to enter data.
To access the online MFD Part 2 exam candidates will require the following technology:
• Internet connection (ideally a hardwired ethernet connection, or alternatively Wi-Fi that has a high Mpbs speed)
• Desktop or laptop computer that has 4Gb RAM and has a webcam
• Windows 7+ or Mac 10.8+
The examination fee is €900 (Euros)
You can view and register for our online exams here. Our online exams are very popular and to maintain the quality, we only have a limited capacity for each of the online exams that we run.
Candidates who have completed three years Specialty Training and are 5 years following undergraduate qualification will be exempt MFD Part 1. Also, candidates who hold the MRCS qualification will be exempt MFD Part 1.
Candidates will normally be allowed a maximum of 5 attempts within 5 years to successful complete the MFD Part 2 examination.
The exam questions are all carefully standard set. It is the aggregated marks scored for all the questions that will determine whether a candidate passes the exam.
It is expected that candidates will have competency of typing at least 40 words per minute. The OSCE is a knowledge test where short and succinct answers are required, not essays. Candidates giving concise and to the point answers demonstrating their clear knowledge to the questions will have no difficulties finishing the paper within the time allocated for the exam.
CPR/BLS certificate should normally be completed within the past two years. Certificates must be valid on the date that the exam takes place.
We would advise candidates to ideally have a hardwired ethernet connection, or alternatively Wi-Fi that has a high Mpbs speed. You can check your Mpbs speed here - https://www.speedtest.net/
Yes, whether MFDRCSI is awarded online or face-to-face, the examination is of exactly the same and equal standing.
Completing the Diploma allows you to gain another set of qualifications from RCSI – Diploma of Primary Care Dentistry (RCSI), which MFD Part 1 does not offer. Should you be successful in the Diploma of Primary Care Dentistry, you can enter the RCSI MFD Part 2 examination.
The Diploma is a 3 hour assessment, where you will enter your answers online. The format consists of 375 True/ False MCQs (there are 75 stems with 5 parts each which are either true or false). Along with 33 Single Best Answer questions (where a statement is presented and candidates select what they feel is the “best” or most appropriate answer).
Candidates must be in possession of an undergraduate dental qualification recognized by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The examination may be taken at any time following graduation from Dental School.
Yes, the exam is available to all eligible candidates worldwide, once you meet our minimum software/technology requirements. The online Diploma exam is a great opportunity to allow candidates to complete the exam from the comfort of one’s own home particularly in the current Covid-19 climate. This is a carefully planned new format, which the Faculty of Dentistry, RCSI hopes will continue to allow candidates to be assessed and progress with their careers.
The MFD Part 1 is structured to be 50/50 basic sciences and clinical dentistry. In the Diploma exam, the emphasis on clinical dentistry accounts for approximately 80% of the examination. Both are three hour exams are both have the same exam format of 75 MCQs and 33 SBAs.
As both exams are equivalent, that will be each candidates individual choice. However, the Diploma exam allows you to gain another set of qualifications from RCSI – Diploma of Primary Care Dentistry (RCSI), which MFD Part 1 does not offer. Passing either the Diploma or MFD Part 1 will allow you to sit MFD Part 2 (candidates should normally be a minimum of 12 months graduated from Dental School when presenting for MFD Part 2).
The online exam is taken on a computer using a third party application. Instead of writing answers using pen and paper, or in the case of multiple choice - using bubble sheets, everything is done electronically on a computer, so depending on the questions types used, you might be selecting the answer by clicking your mouse or using your keyboard to enter data.
What software/technology requirements do I need to sit the online Diploma of Primary Care Dentistry?
To access the online Diploma of Primary Care Dentistry candidates will require the following technology:
• Internet connection (ideally a hardwired ethernet connection, or alternatively Wi-Fi that has a high Mpbs speed)
• Desktop or laptop computer that has 4Gb RAM and has a webcam
• Windows 7+ or Mac 10.8+
The examination fee is €650 (Euros)
You can view and register for our online exams here. Our online exams are very popular and to maintain the quality, we only have a limited capacity for each of the online exams that we run.
No exemptions are offered from any part of the examination.
There is no limit on the number of attempts for this examination. However, examiners may, at their discretion, defer for two years, a candidate whose performance is such that re-examining within such a time is not considered to be in his/her best interest.
We would advise candidates to ideally have a hardwired ethernet connection, or alternatively Wi-Fi that has a high Mpbs speed. You can check your Mpbs speed here - https://www.speedtest.net/
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