Examination for the Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine: a review of 25 years

Abstract

The three Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom first awarded the Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine in November 1976. After 25 years, its introduction and evolution is documented. The Diploma examination has been conducted by a Board of Examiners chosen from senior physicians working in pharmaceutical companies, regulatory authorities, universities and hospitals, who together bring experience of pharmaceutical medicine and of related specialities, such as clinical pharmacology and toxicology. An important contribution from the beginning was the ongoing experience of some examiners in other postgraduate examinations. In 1994, the Diploma examination and the Board of Examiners were transferred to the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, formed 5 years before in the three Royal Colleges. Obtaining the Diploma now allowed candidates to become Associates of the Faculty. It will remain the exit examination for the basic part of the new Higher Medical Training programme that will lead to pharmaceutical physicians achieving specialist grading. The Diploma examination has always comprised a written section and an oral section. There were, and remain, three written parts, but these have gradually changed over the 25 years. Although essays and short answers are retained, in the past decade multiple-choice questions were introduced. The adjudication process has been modified in the way borderline candidates are dealt with. The number of candidates sitting the annual examination has risen from less than 20 on average to about 50, and the pass rate has generally fluctuated around 70% in recent years with a downward trend over time that may be related to the changes to the curriculum and the examination itself. A total of 699 candidates mainly from the UK and other European countries have sat the examination over the past 25 years and 518 (74%) of them obtained the Diploma.