Mr Yow Kuan Heng is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England – FRCS(Eng). The official title of ‘Mister’ applies to all Consultant Vascular Surgeons who have qualified under the British training system. After a period of intensive clinical training and assessment as a Surgical Specialist Registrar, post-graduate doctors in the UK undergo a rigorous written, clinical and viva(oral) Inter-Collegiate Surgical Specialties Fellowship examination.
This examination is offered by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons(England, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Ireland) and upon successful passage, the candidate is conferred the Fellowship of one of these colleges(FRCS). Once conferred, the surgeon is then allowed to use the title of ‘Mr’. Recent amendments now allow post-graduate Surgical trainees to use the title once they pass the earlier stage of Membership examinations of the Royal Colleges (MRCS).
This odd quirk of titles dates back to the 16th century when surgeons were considered part of a skilled, artisanal profession involving barbers and removers of kidney stones. These barber-surgeons did not go to medical school, unlike their university-educated physician counterparts who got to be called doctors. Hence, the title ‘Mr’ rather than ‘Dr’.
This changed when all aspiring surgeons and physicians went through a common medical school training pathway. Post-graduate doctors who had ambitions to become surgeons then trained in an apprenticeship/training programme and upon passing the FRCS examinations switched their title from ‘Dr’ to ‘Mr’. The title of Mr is thus seen as a marker of higher professional achievement. This title is unique to all UK-trained/qualified Consultant Surgeons. Mr Yow is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England based in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London.
