FPM Event Blog – ‘How I passed the DPM Exam’

On Thursday 6 May 2021, FPM held a 90-minute online session titled ‘How I passed the Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine Exam’.

Dr Amit Jadhav and Dr Andrew Pain, past exam candidates, shared their experiences preparing for Part 2 of the exam with 36 attendees.

Amit and Andrew were candid about their previous preparations to sit Part 2 of the exam and gave the attendees interesting insights into their revised strategies to pass the exam.

Below is a list of some of the recommendations and tips that Amit and Andrew gave the attendees:

• Find a study partner or form a study group.
• When practising in a study group, answers can be found through consensus.
• Take care of your mental and physical health and always rest well.
• Enjoy the journey of preparing for the exam.

Dr Eric Teo, the convenor for the short answer paper (SAQ) on FPM’s Board of examiners, was our final speaker. Eric explained the format of Part 2 and gave an overview of the Board of Examiners’ standard-setting procedure.

Eric explained during his presentation that:

• there is no negative marking;
• the CAP is a technical paper so candidates must practice, practice, practice;
• candidates should not spend more than 15 minutes on a question in the SAQ paper; and
• candidates do not need specialist knowledge in the disease area of an article used in the CAP.

All three speakers agreed that passing the exam gave them a real sense of achievement and that it was a useful qualification to hold. Andrew remarked that he works in the “medical affairs post office”, so studying for and passing the exam gave him a better understanding of the various areas of the specialty.