Syllabus · Current · V5 (2025) · Cardiovascular System
D1 · Cardiovascular Anatomy
D1.v · Central Venous Cannulation Anatomy
Describe the anatomy relevant to central venous cannulation of the following: a. Femoral vein, b. Internal jugular vein, c. Subclavian vein, d. the antecubital fossa and upper arm veins – basilic, cephalic and brachial.
Written examination
SAQ history
Venous Access — Femoral Vein
2 exam appearances
Venous Access — Internal Jugular
3 exam appearances
Describe the anatomy of the internal jugular vein including surface anatomy landmarks relevant to central venous line insertion.
38%
Outline the anatomy of the internal jugular vein relevant to central venous line cannulation (80% of marks). Include important anatomical variations (20% of marks).
14%
Outline the anatomy of the internal jugular vein. (80% of marks) Describe the Doppler Effect. (20% of marks)
40%
Venous Access — PICC Anatomy
1 exam appearance
Describe the anatomy of the antecubital fossa and peripheral veins of the upper arm relevant to a peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC).
22.7%
Venous Access — Subclavian Vein
4 exam appearances
Describe and / or illustrate the anatomy relevant for the insertion of a central line into the left subclavian vein using any of the available techniques.
0%
Oral examination
VIVA history
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2017A · Day 2 · VIVA 6
This viva will test your knowledge of anatomy and physiology related to central venous pressure. Identify the structures on the diagram below. Which nerve is anatomically associated with structures 2 and 7? (Image removed.)
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2016B · Day 1 · VIVA 6
This viva tested knowledge of physical principles around flow and viscosity. It went on to look at the venous anatomy of the upper limb and chest and in vivo blood clotting.
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2010B · VIVA 7
This viva will test your knowledge about the anatomy of the internal jugular vein. This viva will also test your knowledge of statistics. Describe the anatomical landmarks for cannulation of the internal jugular vein Candidates had only a very superficial knowledge of the anatomy of the internal jugular vein, particularly surface anatomy and it’s course within the neck. Knowledge in very basic statistics (eg medians, means, measures of distribution, box plots) was very disappointing.
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2009A · VIVA 1
This image is of the carotid artery and internal jugular vein. How can you distinguish the two using this form of imaging?
Sources: objective text from the relevant CICM syllabus; historical SAQ and VIVA wording from CICM examiner reports.