The DGM is growing faster than any other GP diploma — driven by the NHS frailty agenda, care home enhanced service contracts, ICB frailty programmes, and the simple demographic reality that elderly patients constitute an ever-increasing proportion of the primary care workload.
Exam Format
Part 1 — Knowledge-Based Assessment. 100 best-of-five questions, 3 hours, online, remotely proctored. Must pass before sitting Part 2. Part 2 — Clinical OSCE. Four stations, 15 minutes each (with 5 minutes reading time). Stations: Integrated Clinical Assessment (×2), Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment, Ethical and Legal Principles. Held at RCP Assessment Centre, The Spine, Liverpool. Twice yearly (June and November). Nominal pass mark: 29/40. Open to all statutorily regulated healthcare professionals.
Key Topics
CGA (Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment): The organising principle. Medical, functional (Barthel, IADLs), cognitive (MoCA, 4AT), psychological (GDS), social, and nutritional (MUST) domains. Frailty: Clinical Frailty Scale, eFI, Fried phenotype. NICE NG161 falls assessment. Dementia: NICE NG97 — subtypes, assessment tools, cholinesterase inhibitors, BPSD management, Mental Capacity Act. Delirium: 4AT screening, NICE CG103, prevention, non-pharmacological management. Polypharmacy: STOPP/START criteria, deprescribing, anticholinergic burden (ACB score). End-of-life: NICE NG142, ReSPECT process, ADRT, anticipatory prescribing. Stroke: NICE NG128, thrombolysis criteria, secondary prevention.
Study Resources and 8-Week Plan
iatroX DGM Q-Bank — 484 adaptive questions covering all DGM domains. BGS educational resources. Oxford Handbook of Geriatric Medicine. NICE guidelines: NG97, NG161, NG142, NG128, CG103.
Weeks 1-2: Baseline + CGA/frailty. Weeks 3-4: Dementia + delirium. Week 5: Polypharmacy/STOPP-START. Week 6: Falls + bone health. Week 7: End-of-life + capacity. Week 8: Mixed adaptive + OSCE prep.
Career Value
Enhanced services (care home round lead), PCN frailty MDT clinical lead, geriatric special interest GP, portfolio career in elderly care, and the DGM credential for applications to care home medical officer roles.
Start at iatrox.com/boards.