Dr Kola Tytler (MBBS CertHE MBA MRCGP)|21 April 2026|7 min read
Specialist diplomas are the qualifications that expand a clinician's scope of practice beyond their core training. For GP trainees and GPs with extended roles (GPwERs), these diplomas are the currency of portfolio careers — demonstrating competence in areas like women's health, sexual and reproductive healthcare, geriatric medicine, pre-hospital emergency care, intensive care, and tropical medicine.
The problem has always been resources. Each diploma is a niche exam with a small candidate pool, which means dedicated Q-banks are either expensive, small, or nonexistent. Until recently, preparing for a DFSRH or a DGM meant cobbling together resources from multiple sources.
iatroX has changed this by building dedicated, blueprint-mapped Q-banks for all six major specialist diplomas, accessible under a single subscription: £29 per month or £99 per year. This guide covers each diploma, the iatroX question bank for it, and how it compares to standalone alternatives.
The Six Diplomas
DRCOG — Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
The DRCOG validates competence in obstetrics and gynaecology for non-specialists, primarily GPs. The exam is an SBA paper covering antenatal care, intrapartum care, postnatal care, gynaecology, contraception, and early pregnancy problems.
iatroX offers 600+ DRCOG questions with AI-adaptive learning, mapped to the RCOG diploma syllabus. The standalone alternative is Pipador, which offers a dedicated DRCOG bank. PassMedicine does not offer DRCOG separately — its O&G content is within the MRCOG and finals banks.
DFSRH — Diploma of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare
The DFSRH validates competence in contraception and sexual health. The exam is an Online Theory Assessment (OTA) covering contraceptive methods, UKMEC categories, STI management, and reproductive health. It is required for GPs and nurses providing contraceptive services.
iatroX offers 860+ DFSRH questions, making it one of the largest DFSRH banks available. The standalone alternative is PasSRH, which offers 800+ dedicated DFSRH questions covering DFSRH, LoC SDI, LoC IUT, and NDFSRH.
DGM — Diploma in Geriatric Medicine
The DGM validates competence in the care of older people. The exam covers falls, delirium, dementia, polypharmacy, frailty assessment, end-of-life care, and the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment.
iatroX offers 484+ DGM questions. The standalone alternative is PassGeriMed, which offers a dedicated geriatric medicine bank.
DipIMC — Diploma in Immediate Medical Care
The DipIMC validates competence in pre-hospital emergency care. The exam covers major trauma assessment, airway management, haemorrhage control, medical emergencies in the field, and scene management. It is popular with GPs who work in pre-hospital care, event medicine, or BASICS.
iatroX offers 601+ DipIMC questions. The standalone alternative is DIMCPrep, which offers a dedicated DipIMC bank.
FFICM — Fellowship of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine
The FFICM is the exit examination for consultant-level ICM practice. Unlike the other diplomas in this list, it is a fellowship exam sat during advanced specialty training, not a diploma for extended-role practitioners. iatroX includes it in the specialist subscription because dedicated FFICM resources are scarce.
iatroX offers 727+ FFICM questions — the only adaptive FFICM bank available. The standalone alternative is Intensive Anaesthesia, which offers a dedicated FFICM bank on the PassMedicine engine.
For a detailed FFICM revision strategy, see the FFICM revision guide.
DTM&H — Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The DTM&H validates competence in tropical and travel medicine. The exam covers tropical infections (malaria, dengue, TB, parasitic diseases), travel health, neglected tropical diseases, and public health in resource-limited settings.
iatroX offers 700+ DTM&H questions. Dedicated DTM&H Q-banks are rare — most candidates rely on course materials from the Liverpool or London Schools of Tropical Medicine.
The Bundle Value Proposition
The maths is straightforward. A single iatroX specialist subscription (£99/year) gives you access to all six diploma banks (3,972+ questions total) plus free access to MRCP, AKT, MSRA, PLAB, UKMLA, MRCEM, PSA, and PANE.
Purchasing standalone alternatives for each diploma individually would cost significantly more and require managing multiple accounts and subscriptions. For a GP trainee preparing for two or three diplomas alongside the AKT and MSRA, the consolidation into one platform at one price point is the core value.
Every diploma bank on iatroX uses the same AI-adaptive engine — weak-area targeting and spaced repetition work identically across all six exams. The clinical AI covers the guidelines relevant to each diploma: RCOG guidelines for DRCOG, FSRH guidelines for DFSRH, NICE falls and dementia guidance for DGM, JRCALC guidelines for DipIMC, and so on.
Who Benefits Most
GP trainees building a portfolio career benefit most from the bundle. A typical GPwER pathway might involve DRCOG + DFSRH (women's health), or DGM (care of the elderly), or DipIMC (pre-hospital care). Having all options available under one subscription means you can explore multiple diploma paths without separate investments.
ICM trainees benefit from the FFICM bank alongside the free MRCP bank — covering both their fellowship exam and the physician exam that many ICM trainees also require.
Any clinician sitting two or more specialist exams within a 12-month period gets better value from the iatroX bundle than from purchasing standalone alternatives individually.
Explore iatroX Specialist Diplomas
Information based on public sources as of 21 April 2026. Trademarks belong to their owners.