How this examination works
The Philippine Board of Surgery certifying examination has a written and an oral part, and is sat at the end of residency. One detail explains why Philippine programmes push so hard: to keep accreditation, at least half of a programme’s graduates who sat the examination in the last five years must have passed. The trainee’s result is also the hospital’s result, and the hospital knows it. Being a PBS diplomate is also the gateway to fellowship of the Philippine Society of General Surgeons: no board, no fellowship.
Who can sit it
Only graduates of general surgery training programmes fully accredited by the Philippine College of Surgeons, a rule in force since 1985. The general surgery rotation must total at least forty-five months.
Checked against the body itself on 1 September 2026. Procedures change; if this no longer matches what you were asked for, write and tell us.
Examination structure
Source: https://www.psgs.org.ph/
The structure above is taken from the examining body. What we have not done yet is transcribe its published syllabus domain by domain, which is what lets us show a coverage table instead of asking you to take our word for it.
What we have written against this syllabus
These are the domains as Philippine Board of Surgery / Philippine Society of General Surgeons publishes them, not our summary of them, with the number of questions we hold against each. A domain we have not covered is shown as zero rather than hidden.
| Domain | Questions |
|---|---|
| PSGS-1.2.2.7.1 Principles of basic surgery: fluids and electrolytes, shock and resuscitation, surgical nutrition, endocrine and metabolic response to injury, wound healing, bleeding and blood transfusion, burns, surgical oncology, trauma, critical care, surgical infection, immunology and transplantation, surgical complications, minimal access surgery, endoscopy, perioperative care, patient safety and professionalism PSGS Standardized Curriculum 2017, §1.2.2.7.1 | 2,399 |
| PSGS-1.2.2.7.2 Clinical surgery — general surgery: head and neck; thyroid and parathyroid; breast; skin and soft tissue tumours; abdominal wall defects and hernias; oesophagus; stomach and duodenum; small intestine, colon, rectum and anus; liver, gallbladder and biliary tree; pancreas and spleen; acute surgical abdomen PSGS Standardized Curriculum 2017, §1.2.2.7.2 | 2,001 |
| PSGS-1.2.2.7.3 Clinical surgery — other specialties: paediatric surgery, plastic surgery, urology, orthopaedics, thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, neurosurgery PSGS Standardized Curriculum 2017, §1.2.2.7.3 | 400 |
| PSGS-1.2.2.7.4 Principles of surgical diagnostics: laboratory work-up, imaging, endoscopy, laparoscopy, biopsy PSGS Standardized Curriculum 2017, §1.2.2.7.4 | 600 |
4,900 distinct questions map to this syllabus. A question counts once per domain it serves, so the column adds up to more than the bank.
Common questions about this examination
What are the parts of the PBS examination?
Philippine Board of Surgery / Philippine Society of General Surgeons sets 2 components: Part I — Qualifying, escrito (a written multiple-choice paper, 200 questions, 4 hours); Part II — Certifying, oral (an oral viva).
How many questions are in the PBS examination?
200 across all written components, as published by Philippine Board of Surgery / Philippine Society of General Surgeons.
What does the PBS syllabus cover?
4 domains published by Philippine Board of Surgery / Philippine Society of General Surgeons: Principles of basic surgery, Clinical surgery — general surgery, Clinical surgery — other specialties, Principles of surgical diagnostics.
Where is the official PBS syllabus published?
Philippine Board of Surgery / Philippine Society of General Surgeons publishes it at https://www.psgs.org.ph/. Our question mapping is taken from that document, domain by domain.
What is the PBS examination like?
The Philippine Board of Surgery certifying examination has a written and an oral part, and is sat at the end of residency. One detail explains why Philippine programmes push so hard: to keep accreditation, at least half of a programme’s graduates who sat the examination in the last five years must have passed. The trainee’s result is also the hospital’s result, and the hospital knows it. Being a PBS diplomate is also the gateway to fellowship of the Philippine Society of General Surgeons: no board, no fellowship.
Who can sit the PBS?
Only graduates of general surgery training programmes fully accredited by the Philippine College of Surgeons, a rule in force since 1985. The general surgery rotation must total at least forty-five months.
Is there a question bank for the PBS?
This one. 5,000 single-best-answer questions across the whole of general surgery, each with the reasoning for every option rather than only the correct one, written by a consultant surgical oncologist. It is written to the discipline, not transcribed from the PBS blueprint — general surgery is general surgery wherever it is examined, and we say plainly which boards we have mapped and which we have not.
What level are the questions for the PBS?
2,051 of the 5,000 — 41% — sit at the hardest of three levels: trial results, guideline nuance and the cases that split examiners, which is the level an exit examination like the PBS is decided at. Fifty questions are free with an account, so you can judge the level before paying.
How do I practise the PBS oral component?
With the oral simulator, included in a subscription. Six stations as an examination sets them; you choose the station and the examiner chooses the case from more than a hundred scenarios built on this bank. It presses when an answer is vague and marks by domain — reasoning, guidelines, decision-making and communication.
What does preparation for the PBS cost?
One payment of $99 for 180 days, the same from wherever you pay — there is no country pricing. It covers the whole bank, the oral simulator and the timed mock papers. Nothing renews and no card is kept on file afterwards. Fifty questions are free with an account, so you can judge the level before paying.
Every answer above is taken from the examining body’s own published document, not from our reading of it.
Other examinations in Asia-Pacific
- MHKICBSC Parts 1 and 2 — Membership (Hong Kong and Singapore) — Hong Kong Inter-Collegiate Board of Surgical Colleges
- Postgraduate Institute of Medicine — MD Surgery (Sri Lanka) — Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo
- College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan — FCPS General Surgery — College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan
- Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons — FCPS Surgery — Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons
- Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand — Board of Surgery — Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand
- DNB General Surgery (India) — National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences
Price for this board
One price, the same from every country. What you see is what you are charged, and nothing renews.
$99 · 180 days of full access
This examination has a viva or clinical component, and the access includes the oral simulator: an examiner that presents a case, listens to what you actually say and questions you back. It marks on the four competence domains the Saudi Commission publishes — the only oral rubric for general surgery published in full — which are the same competencies every one of these boards is testing.