MRCS Part B Revision · Anatomy
Gluteal Region — MRCS Part B Anatomy
By Dr Richard Miller, MBChB FRCS · Reviewed
Gluteal Region is a surgical anatomy station. Three of the seventeen examined stations in the MRCS Part B OSCE are surgical anatomy. The anatomy stations put a prosected specimen, a model or an image in front of you and ask you to identify structures and say what they do, what they relate to and what happens when they are injured.
What you need to know for the Gluteal Region station
The Gluteal Region
The gluteal muscles are a group of three muscles which make up the buttocks: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. The three muscles originate from the ilium and sacrum and insert on the femur.
Sciatic Nerve
The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the human body. The sciatic nerve is formed from the L4 to S3 segments of the sacral plexus, a collection of nerve fibres that emerge from the sacral part of the spinal cord. The fibres unite to form a single nerve in front of the piriformis muscle.
The nerve passes beneath piriformis and through the greater sciatic foramen, exiting the pelvis. From here, it travels down the posterior thigh to the popliteal fossa. The nerve travels in the posterior compartment of the thigh behind the adductor magnus muscle, and is itself in front of the one head of the biceps femoris muscle. At some point between the pelvis and popliteal fossa, the nerve divides into its two branches:
- The tibial nerve, which travels down the posterior compartment of the leg into the foot
- The common fibular nerve, which travels down the anterior and lateral compartments of the leg into the foot
Images from this station
What are you asked at the Gluteal Region station?
The station runs to 18 questions over nine minutes. These are the questions as they are put to you; the model answers are in the question bank.
- Identify muscles 1 and 2
- Identify muscles 3 and 4
- Identify muscles 5-7
- Identify muscle 8
- Which muscle has its origin at 9?
- Identify structure 10
- What can be harvested from structure 10?
- Identify fascia layers at 11 and 12
- Identify ligament 13
- Identify structures 14-16
- Identify the paired nerve and vessel at 17 and 18
- Identify the paired nerve and vessel at 19 and 20
And 6 more at this station.
How is the anatomy station marked in MRCS Part B?
An anatomy station is marked out of 20, and all 20 marks go to clinical knowledge and its application. No communication, technical-skill or professionalism marks are available in an anatomy bay, which is unusual: in most other stations more than half the marks sit outside your factual knowledge.
FAQ
What does the Gluteal Region station ask?
It opens with "Identify muscles 1 and 2" and runs to 18 questions over nine minutes. An anatomy station is marked out of 20, and all 20 marks go to clinical knowledge and its application. No communication, technical-skill or professionalism marks are available in an anatomy bay, which is unusual: in most other stations more than half the marks sit outside your factual knowledge.
How many anatomy stations are there in MRCS Part B?
Three of the seventeen examined stations are surgical anatomy, and two more are surgical pathology. Together they make up the five Anatomy and surgical pathology stations of the Applied Knowledge component.
How are the anatomy stations marked?
Each station is marked out of 20 and all 20 marks are awarded for clinical knowledge and its application. You also receive a separate global rating of pass, borderline or fail for the station.
Are the specimens real?
Yes. Anatomy bays use prosected cadaveric specimens, models and images. Candidates report being shown photographs of specimens as well as the specimens themselves, so practise on real dissection photography rather than diagrams alone.
What happens if I get an early question wrong?
The intercollegiate guidance says that if a wrong answer would affect your performance on later questions at the same station, the examiner gives you the correct answer before moving on. One mistake does not have to cost you the whole bay.
How many stations are in the MRCS Part B OSCE?
Seventeen examined stations of nine minutes each, with a minute to read the task before each one. Two preparation stations and at least one rest station bring the circuit to about twenty, and the exam takes about three and a half hours.
What is the pass mark for MRCS Part B?
There is no published pass mark. The cut score is set separately for Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills, for each circuit, by borderline regression. Published pass rates across the 2024/25 diets ranged from 51% to 66%.
Can I fail a station and still pass?
Yes. There is no rule about how many stations you may fail: the cut score applies to your total mark in each component, so a weak station costs the marks you lost on it and strong stations elsewhere can make them back. Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills are passed separately and must both be passed at the same sitting, so a strong anatomy performance cannot rescue a weak communication one.
Dr Richard Miller, MBChB FRCS
Station summaries are reviewed against the current intercollegiate MRCS syllabus and the published marking blueprint. Guidance changes between diets: check the royal colleges' own pages before relying on a date, a fee or a threshold.
Practise this station
The question bank carries the model answer to every question above, with the rest of the anatomy stations.
More anatomy stations