For a UK ICM trainee who wants a focused, no-frills SBA bank for the Final FFICM MCQ, Intensive Anaesthesia is a lean and relevant option: single-best-answer questions with revision notes under each item, timed testing and peer benchmarking. Its principal limitation is scope — it addresses the written knowledge layer only, publishes neither a firm question count nor full pricing, and offers nothing for the OSCE or SOE. Use it to drill the MCQ, and measure and rehearse everything else elsewhere.
This is a narrow child article linking up to the iatroX comparison hub; it avoids generic price tables and "best bank" lists. It audits what Intensive Anaesthesia teaches, what it tests, and what remains for you to source.
What Intensive Anaesthesia offers for FFICM right now
Current-state snapshot, observed 20 July 2026. Confirm figures on the product page, as much sits behind sign-up.
| Item | What we found (observed, 20 July 2026) |
|---|---|
| Product type | UK-oriented FFICM SBA question bank ("an expanding SBA resource") |
| Question count | Not stated on the page — verify on the product page |
| Core features | Revision mode, timed tests, extensive performance analysis, question review and flagging, personal notes, an answer plus revision notes under each question |
| Readiness tool | A daily-updated histogram benchmarking your score against other candidates |
| Price / access | A "4 months – Free" access option is listed; other durations and prices are not shown — verify |
| AI / adaptive engine | None advertised |
| FFICM components addressed | MCQ (SBA) knowledge only; no OSCE or SOE material |
Two honest notes. The name suggests a "course," but functionally this is a question bank with embedded revision notes — audit it as such. And a "4 months – Free" option is a genuine positive for a cash-strapped trainee, but confirm what it includes and what the paid tiers add before planning around it.
The exam you are actually preparing for
The Final FFICM has three components (verified on ficm.ac.uk, 20 July 2026):
- MCQ — 130 single-best-answer questions in 3 hours (80 short SBAs at one mark, 50 long SBAs at two marks; 180 marks maximum), all-SBA since the multiple-true-false format was discontinued in June 2022.
- OSCE — 13 stations of 7 minutes across Data, Equipment, Professionalism and Resuscitation.
- SOE — a structured oral of 4 stations at 14 minutes, eight questions, two examiners.
Intensive Anaesthesia targets the MCQ exclusively — the same knowledge layer iatroX occupies. Neither reproduces the OSCE or SOE; plan those with in-person mocks and viva partners. The blueprint follows the FICM curriculum; verify the current syllabus and examination regulations on the Faculty site.
Mapping the bank to the blueprint
Because the question count is unstated, a blueprint map matters more than usual — you cannot assume depth from a headline number. Sample across the ICM curriculum and mark coverage:
- Expect solid coverage: cardiovascular, respiratory/ventilation, sepsis, renal/acid-base, neurocritical care — the high-yield systems any FFICM SBA bank prioritises.
- Sample carefully: applied physics and clinical measurement, statistics and trial interpretation, toxicology, obstetric critical care, organ donation and brainstem-death testing, transfer of the critically ill. These are the domains most often thin, and the ones self-selected practice avoids.
- Absent by design: OSCE station practice and SOE spoken reasoning.
Use the completion-is-not-coverage matrix to record, per domain, the questions attempted, first-pass accuracy and last-reviewed date. A bank with an unknown total is exactly the case where completion can masquerade as coverage.
Passive assets versus active assets
Intensive Anaesthesia is unusually clean on this axis:
- Passive / input: the revision notes under each question. These are compact teaching, tied to the item you just answered.
- Active / retrieval: the SBA questions under timed or revision mode, question review, and the flag-and-return mechanism.
The strength is that input is welded to retrieval — you read the note because you answered the question, which is the right order. The risk is the opposite of a video course: with only per-question notes and no structured lectures, a weak-foundation candidate may find gaps under-explained and need a textbook or course alongside. The histogram is a nice readiness cue, but remember it benchmarks you against other users of this bank, a self-selected group — not against the FFICM standard.
Judging question quality — on fidelity, not testimonials
Check four things in one sitting:
- Exam fidelity. Do stems read like FFICM long SBAs — clinical context, a management decision, five plausible options — rather than one-line recall?
- Explanation depth. Do the notes explain why distractors are wrong and cite current guidance? For ICM drugs, the correct UK reference is the SmPC/eMC; for management, look for alignment with Surviving Sepsis, NICE, ICS/GPICS and specialty-society standards.
- Image and data use. FFICM leans on ABGs, films, CT, echo, ECGs and waveforms — check the bank carries image-based items, not text-only stems.
- Recency. Sample ten items against current guidance and note the review date; an "expanding" bank should show recent additions.
The component gap
Intensive Anaesthesia covers the content behind data interpretation and ethics through its SBA stems and notes. It does not rehearse: the OSCE's timed stations, the SOE's spoken reasoning, or performance under an examiner. Those are out of scope for any MCQ product, iatroX included. For them you need mock OSCE circuits, a viva partner and repeated spoken practice; read the AI-graded feedback calibration pillar before trusting any automated score on those tasks.
Time-cost: input hours versus retrieval hours
Because input here is lightweight (per-question notes), your ratio can tilt further towards retrieval than with a video course. Target roughly 65% retrieval, 35% input for the final six weeks, topping up input from a textbook where notes are thin.
| Schedule | Weekly budget | Input (notes + textbook top-up) | Retrieval (timed SBA + mixed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full clinical rota, 8 weeks out | 6–8 h | 2–2.5 h | 4–5.5 h |
| Study-leave block, 3 weeks out | 20–25 h | 6–7 h | 14–18 h |
| Final fortnight | 15–20 h | 3 h | 12–17 h |
Who benefits most
- First-time candidate with a solid foundation: an efficient drilling engine — strong fit, especially given a free access window.
- Retaker: useful volume, but pair with a second unseen bank to avoid re-recognising items.
- IMG or weak-foundation learner: workable, but budget for a textbook or course alongside, as per-question notes may under-explain first principles and UK-specific ethics/law.
- Time-poor, disciplined candidate: ideal — minimal friction, all retrieval.
A worked seven-day plan (one job for the bank, measurement on iatroX)
Give Intensive Anaesthesia one job — drill and consolidate a target system with its notes — and use iatroX for unseen, timed, mixed measurement. You select domains manually; no proprietary algorithm is implied.
| Day | Intensive Anaesthesia (one job: drill "renal & acid-base") | iatroX (unseen measurement) |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | 20 timed SBAs on renal/acid-base; read notes on every miss | — |
| Tue | Redo Monday's misses cold; flag persistent errors | 20-question unseen mixed timed block |
| Wed | 20 SBAs on electrolytes/RRT; textbook top-up on thin notes | — |
| Thu | Review flagged items only | 20-question unseen mixed block; note weakest two domains |
| Fri | Targeted SBAs on Thursday's two weak domains | Retest those domains, 15 unseen items each |
| Sat | 40-question mixed timed set within the bank | — |
| Sun | Update blueprint matrix; check histogram trend | 30-question unseen mixed block as the week's transfer score |
The iatroX unseen score, not the bank's histogram, is your readiness signal — a familiar-bank percentage overstates readiness, as "Your Q-Bank Percentage Is Not Your Exam Score" explains.
Decision checklist: continue, supplement, switch or stop
- Continue while your first-pass accuracy climbs and the notes still teach you something.
- Supplement with a second unseen bank once you have completed most items, your unseen accuracy trails your in-bank figure by more than about ten points, or two domains remain untested — the two-Q-bank rule.
- Switch or add a textbook if sampling shows thin explanations or dated guidance — do not learn first principles from one-paragraph notes.
- Stop buying MCQ time when your limiting factor is OSCE/SOE performance; move hours to circuits and viva rehearsal.
Bottom line
Intensive Anaesthesia is a focused, UK-relevant SBA engine for the FFICM MCQ, with the practical bonus of a free access window and welded question-plus-note design. It is deliberately narrow: no OSCE or SOE material, an unstated question count, and per-question notes that may under-serve a weak foundation. Use it to drill the written paper, verify its depth with a blueprint matrix, add a second unseen bank such as iatroX for transfer measurement, and resource the clinical components separately.
Frequently asked questions
Is Intensive Anaesthesia enough for FFICM on its own? For the MCQ it can carry much of the drilling load, particularly for a candidate with a solid foundation who values a lean, retrieval-heavy tool. It is not sufficient for the whole Final: it offers nothing for the OSCE or SOE, and its question count is unstated, so you cannot assume blueprint depth. Verify coverage, add a second unseen bank, and resource the clinical components with in-person practice.
Which FFICM component does Intensive Anaesthesia not reproduce well? Both non-written components — the OSCE and the SOE — are entirely out of scope. It is a single-best-answer bank; it does not simulate timed clinical stations or spoken examination, and its per-question notes, while helpful, are not a substitute for structured teaching if your foundations are shaky. Plan mock circuits and viva rehearsal independently from the start.
How many Intensive Anaesthesia questions should I complete per day for FFICM? Because the total is unstated, judge by review depth rather than a quota: 20–30 timed SBAs daily on a rota, each miss read and re-tested cold within 48 hours; 40–60 in a study-leave block. Volume you analyse beats volume you tick through, so prioritise wrong and low-confidence items over easy repeats, and use the flag function to build a personal weak-item set.
When should I stop using Intensive Anaesthesia and move to mixed mocks? Move towards full, mixed, timed mocks in the final two to three weeks, once per-system accuracy has stabilised and the notes rarely teach you anything new. The signal is diminishing returns: when a fresh topic set surfaces few genuine gaps, your limiting factors are exam-condition stamina and cross-domain retrieval, which only mixed mocks and unseen blocks train.
How should I combine Intensive Anaesthesia with iatroX without duplicating practice? Keep the roles distinct: Intensive Anaesthesia drills and consolidates within a system using its notes, while iatroX serves unseen, timed, mixed blocks to measure transfer. Never re-test the same item across both — recognition is not knowledge — and let the iatroX unseen score, rather than the in-bank histogram, be your readiness metric. Log misses in one place so the two banks complement rather than overlap.
Editorial notes and references
Written by Dr Kolawole Tytler, NHS GP and founder of iatroX. Last checked 20 July 2026. Intensive Anaesthesia's features are observed from its public pages; its question count and full pricing are not stated as of that date and the "4 months – Free" option should be confirmed on the product page. Disclosure: iatroX operates a competing UK question bank; its role here is confined to the unseen-MCQ measurement and knowledge layer that Intensive Anaesthesia occupies alongside it, and iatroX is not positioned as an OSCE or SOE simulator. Corrections are welcome via the feedback route on iatrox.com.
References: FFICM Final MCQ, OSCE and SOE formats — ficm.ac.uk; Final FFICM overview — ficm.ac.uk; product details — intensiveanaesthesia.com; iatroX FFICM bank, the FFICM content-gap checklist and "Your Q-Bank Percentage Is Not Your Exam Score".