DTM&H: question practice and revision.

Choose a topic for focused revision and check your plan against the official specification.

• Clinical infectious diseases and tropical medicine
• Preventative medicine and international public health
• Non-communicable diseases of importance in the tropics

Six clinical domains that consistently dominate the DTM&H clinical paper, distilled from approved course curricula and candidate feedback.

• Malaria — uncomplicated vs severe criteria, P. falciparum vs P. vivax/ovale relapse biology, artesunate dosing, antimalarial chemoprophylaxis choice by region
• HIV / TB co-infection — IRIS recognition and management, multidrug-resistant TB, antiretroviral selection in resource-limited settings
• Helminths and soil-transmitted infections — schistosomiasis (acute vs chronic), filariasis, strongyloidiasis hyperinfection, treatment regimens
• Viral haemorrhagic fevers — clinical recognition, infection control, supportive care, public-health notification
• Vaccine-preventable disease epidemiology — measles, polio, yellow fever, cholera, meningitis belt seasonality
• Humanitarian crisis medicine — refugee health priorities, outbreak investigation, malnutrition management, SPHERE standards

Candidate-reported observations from previous DTM&H sittings. Verify all clinical detail against current LSHTM / Glasgow / WHO course materials.

Candidate-reported observations — not official guidance.

1. Confusing malaria species treatment — P. vivax requires primaquine for radical cure (after G6PD testing), P. falciparum does not.
2. Misreading thick-vs-thin film roles — thick film for parasite detection and density; thin film for species identification.
3. Underestimating the public health paper — vaccine cold chain, outbreak investigation steps and the difference between attack rate and incidence trip candidates who focused only on clinical content.
4. Schistosoma species confusion — S. haematobium causes urinary disease and bladder cancer risk; S. mansoni and S. japonicum cause hepatic-intestinal disease.
5. Forgetting that strongyloidiasis can cause life-threatening hyperinfection in any patient who may need immunosuppression — including PPI-induced hypochlorhydria as a risk factor.
6. Anti-helminthic dosing by age and weight — examiners specifically test paediatric dose adjustments which are easy to misremember under time pressure.

A pragmatic plan that runs alongside your approved DTM&H course (which itself usually spans several months).

1. Weeks 1–6

   Foundation in clinical tropical medicine. 30 iatroX questions/day across malaria, HIV/TB, helminths, viral infections, bacterial tropical disease. Read in parallel with your course.

2. Weeks 7–10

   Public health pivot. Outbreak investigation, vaccine programmes, WASH, nutrition, refugee health. Cross-reference WHO and UNHCR field guides.

3. Weeks 11–13

   Tropical NCDs and laboratory interpretation. Cardiovascular disease in low-resource settings, snake bite, drowning, envenomation. Microscopy practice if available.

4. Weeks 14–16

   Mixed adaptive mocks under timed conditions. Review weak areas. Walk through the Apothecaries' regulations and Brightspace tutorial. Final two weeks: bookmark review only.

Dedicated DTM&H question practice with answer explanations, guided Tutor review and study planning.

• Focused question practice — Choose the relevant bank and use your answers to identify what to study next.
• Guided reasoning — Explore a difficult answer with Tutor, then apply the distinction independently.
• Review and timed practice — Return to important mistakes and choose a timed practice set where available.

Choose the relevant bank and use the official exam guidance to plan your preparation.

From 2024 onwards the DTM&H is administered by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in London, having transferred from the Royal College of Physicians. The exam itself remains independent of the teaching institution.

Eligible courses include LSHTM, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, University of Glasgow, University of Sheffield, the Médecins Sans Frontières Global Health and Humanitarian Medicine course, and ASTMH-approved US courses meeting CTropMed requirements.

The Society of Apothecaries lists the 2027 sitting for 25 May 2027. Check its DTM&H examination page for the application window, closing date and online paper timings; use the published instructions when applying.

The Society of Apothecaries lists a £590 examination fee for 2027. This is separate from the approved teaching course fee, which varies by provider. Confirm both costs before applying.

Full DTM&H bank access is included in all-access. Up to 10 new sample questions per day are shared across exams, with no account required. A verified free account includes one guided Tutor session; continued Tutor use is included in all-access.