Core Revision
Is the DGM worth it for pharmacists?
The Diploma in Geriatric Medicine is not only for doctors. The Royal College of Physicians says candidates for the Certificate in Geriatric Medicine (CGM) and the DGM have included pharmacists, and the new curriculum names polypharmacy, deprescribing and medicines optimisation outright. This post covers who can sit it, what it tests, where it plays to a pharmacist’s strengths, where it will stretch you, and whether it is worth it. Checked against rcp.ac.uk, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and NHS England on 24 September 2026.
Who can actually sit it
The CGM, the written first stage, is open to any statutorily regulated healthcare professional who is currently registered and in good standing with their regulator, with no restrictions on practice: for a pharmacist, that is registration with the GPhC, or the PSNI in Northern Ireland. You also need at least two years’ post-qualification experience, including at least four months in a setting where you have worked with a significant number of older people. Once you hold the CGM you can apply for the DGM, which is now the clinical exam alone.
What it actually tests
- The CGM: 200 best-of-five questions in four online papers of 50, each 90 minutes, sat remotely. One sitting in 2027, on 24 February; applications 14 December 2026 to 18 January 2027.
- The DGM: four live stations in Liverpool: two integrated clinical assessments, in which you take a history, do a focused physical examination, explain your findings and a plan to the patient and discuss them with the examiners; a comprehensive geriatric assessment; and a station on ethical and legal principles in practice.
- Both follow the RCP’s CGM & DGM curriculum (January 2027), which is built around older people living with multiple long-term conditions, the frailty syndromes and comprehensive geriatric assessment.
Where it plays to your strengths
- Medicines are written into the curriculum. Under older people living with multiple long-term conditions, the January 2027 curriculum lists a “structured approach to polypharmacy, de-prescribing, and medicines optimisation”, and tools for managing polypharmacy appear again under clinical physiology. The RCP has not published a question weighting for the CGM; the previous DGM written paper put 15 of its 100 questions on pharmacology and therapeutics in older people.
- It matches medication review work. NHS England expects clinical pharmacists in primary care networks to lead structured medication reviews, and the groups prioritised for them include people in care homes, people on ten or more medicines, and people with severe frailty — particularly those who are isolated or housebound, or who have had recent admissions or falls. Those older, frail patients are who the curriculum centres on.
- It is an externally examined RCP credential in the care of older people, developed with the British Geriatrics Society, and designed for regulated professionals who want to demonstrate their knowledge and clinical skills in that care.
Where it will stretch you
- The physical examination. Half the clinical exam is integrated clinical assessment, including a focused examination of a real patient. Unless you examine patients routinely, this needs deliberate practice.
- The breadth. The curriculum covers the science of ageing, frailty, rehabilitation principles, medico-legal and social issues, communication and administration as well as medicines.
- It is not a pharmacy credential. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society publishes a Professional Curriculum for Advanced Pharmacy Practice in Care of Older People; the DGM is not part of it and does not replace it.
- Cost and travel. The DGM clinical exam fee is £668 for the 2027 diets (£642 for November 2026), plus getting to Liverpool; the CGM is £350.
Sitting the CGM or the DGM clinical exam?
The DGM package has 1,000 best-of-five questions across fourteen modules, timed 50-question mocks, a revision guide and an OSCE module for the clinical stage. It is £49.99 for 12 months, which covers both stages. Try ten questions first, free and with no sign-up.
The honest verdict
For a pharmacist working with older people, in a PCN, a care home team or a frailty service, the CGM is a good test of the clinical knowledge around your medicines work, and you can sit it from home. Go on to the DGM if you want to evidence clinical assessment too, and give yourself time to practise the examination. If your aim is advanced pharmacy practice recognition, look to the RPS’s advanced practice curriculum and credentialing instead; the DGM can sit alongside them.
How this fits the platform
The DGM package covers both stages: 1,000 best-of-five questions across fourteen modules for the CGM, including polypharmacy, with a timed mock of 50 questions in 90 minutes, a revision guide, and an OSCE module with station-by-station guides and worked scenarios for the clinical exam. It is £49.99 for 12 months, and you can try ten questions free first.
Quick answers
Can pharmacists sit the DGM?
Yes. The CGM and DGM are open to any statutorily regulated healthcare professional, including registered pharmacists, with two years’ post-qualification experience including four months working with older people.
Is the DGM useful for PCN pharmacists?
It covers much of the clinical knowledge behind structured medication reviews for older, frail and care home patients, groups NHS England prioritises for them. It is not a pharmacy credential.
Will I have to examine patients?
In the DGM clinical exam, yes: the two integrated clinical assessment stations include a focused physical examination. The CGM is a written exam only.
