Examinations
There are four papers comprising the written examination. The Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) paper and the Short Answer Question paper are held on day 1 and the Essay paper and Critical Appraisal paper on day 2. In 2010, the examination will be held on 14-15 October at the Royal College of Physicians, London.
The Diploma examination is open to doctors who have entered pharmaceutical medicine and received structured training in the discipline.
In terms of career progression, passing the examination indicates that the individual has reached a certain level of achievement and has completed a period of training. For those pursuing a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) or Certificate confirming Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR) in the specialty of Pharmaceutical Medicine in the UK, success in the examination also indicates completion of the Pharmaceutical Medicine Specialty Training (PMST) knowledge base.
As announced in 2009, the assessment of the ability to critique a published paper will be conducted as a written examination, a 'Critical Appraisal paper', in place of the oral examination held in previous years.
In 2005, the Faculty introduced a Certificate of Good Clinical Practice examination, which is held once a year in London. The examination consists of one multiple choice paper. The next examination will be held on 8 June 2010 at the Royal College of Physicians, London.