"Mr", "Ms", "Mrs" or "Miss". Until relatively recently - the early 19th century - the training as a surgeon was through an apprenticeship, at the end of which, if they had learnt their trade in a large city, they were examined and given a diploma; while physicians from the Middle Ages had to hold a university degree in medicine before they could practise. Today, for most, the route to Fellowship is lengthy: one must qualify as a Doctor of medicine, then undergo further postgraduate study and training through junior doctor posts before then passing assessments to obtain surgical qualifications. There are some exceptions: honour fellows, consultant podiatric surgeons and surgical care practitioners. At that point many choose to stop prefixing their name with Dr and revert to the prefix they used before qualifying (or one they have since acquired.) FRCS can be awarded without appearing for the fellowship examination based on the recommendation of the College Council. Such surgeons are usually surgeons of high calibre who have had distinguished achievements in their career. One such category is called Conferred Fellow. A fellow selected via this category will be entitled to use post-nominal FRCS(Glasg), and hence there will be no difference in terms of post-nominals between this category of FRCS and others. Fellows The original 300 Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS) include: Marcus Beck (1843-1893) John Badley (1783–1870) John Abernethy (1764–1831) Robert Keate (1777–1857) Richard Partridge (1805–1873) Joseph Jordan (1787-1873) See :Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons for more recent examples of Fellows. See also Fellow of the American College of Surgeons Fellowship in Dental Surgery FDSRCS England References Professional titles and certifications Surgical organisations based in the United Kingdom