Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene
About the Diploma
The Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (DTM&H) examination is designed for qualified medical practitioners who have completed an approved course in tropical medicine & hygiene or global health & humanitarian medicine (GHHM).
The DTM&H examination is a test of knowledge for medical doctors who wish to practice medicine effectively in tropical and sub-tropical countries.
Previously administered by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), the DTM&H examination isn't based on a single detailed syllabus, but the syllabus of each approved course has been assessed to ensure that it covers a full range of topics in clinical infectious diseases, tropical medicine, parasitology, entomology, preventative medicine and international public health.
The examination takes place once a year and is open to candidates who have possessed for at least one year, either;
- a qualification to practise Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics & Gynaecology and be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) of the United Kingdom; or
- a medical qualification awarded by an internationally recognised institution. (Thus, a medical degree awarded outside the UK must be on the World Health Organisation’s World Directory of Medical Schools).
Clinical Infectious Diseases & Tropical Medicine
60% of the DTM&H examination is based on the aetiology, epidemiology (including vectors), clinical features, investigations, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis and prevention of the following.
Viral infections:
- Arboviruses, HIV/AIDS, measles, mumps, polio, rabies, respiratory virus infections (including SARS, MERS, COVID-19), rubella, viral encephalitis, viral gastroenteritis, viral haemorrhagic fever (including Lassa, Ebola & CCHF), emerging viral infections (including mpox, nipah), other viral infections.
Bacterial infections:
- Anthrax, brucellosis, leptospirosis, leprosy, melioidosis, plague, Q fever, relapsing fever, rickettsial infections, tetanus, tuberculosis, typhoid & paratyphoid, other bacterial infections.
Protozoal infections:
- Acanthamoebae, gastro-intestinal protozoal infection, leishmania, malaria, trypanosomiasis, toxoplasmosis, other protozoal infections.
Helminthic infections:
- Nematodes (including soil-transmitted helminths, filarial infections), trematodes (including schistosomiasis, other flukes), cestodes (including tapeworms, cysticercosis, echinococcosis), other helminthic infections.
Fungal infections:
- Cryptococcal infections, deep mycoses, histoplasmosis, other fungal infections.
Ectoparasites and Vector:
- Ectoparasites (including myiasis, scabies, tungiasis), arthropod vectors, other intermediate hosts (including snails & copepods) including lifecycles & control measures.
Infection syndromes:
- Central nervous system infections, gastroenteritis, hepatitis, respiratory infections, sepsis, sexually-transmitted infections, undifferentiated febrile illnesses (including pyrexia of unknown origin).
Neglected Tropical Diseases (as defined by WHO):
- Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, dengue & chikungunya, dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease), echinococcosis, foodborne trematodiases, human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), leishmaniasis, leprosy (Hansen’s disease), lymphatic filariasis, mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis & other deep mycoses, onchocerciasis (river blindness), rabies, scabies & other ectoparasitoses, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases, snakebite envenoming, taeniasis & cysticercosis, trachoma and yaws & other endemic treponematoses.
Non-Communicable Diseases of Importance in the Tropics & Sub-Tropics
15% of the examination is based on non-communicable diseases of importance in the Tropics & Sub-Tropics.
For example:
- alcohol & drug abuse
- anaesthesia
- animal bites & stings
- asthma
- diabetes mellitus
- cardiovascular disease
- cerebrovascular disease
- epilepsy
- eye diseases
- hypertension
- malignancies
- malnutrition
- mental health
- ophthalmology
- rheumatic fever
- skin diseases
- malignancies
- surgery
- trauma
- travel medicine
- and vitamin deficiencies.
Preventative Medicine & International Public Health
The final 25% of the examination looks at preventative medicine and international public health, including:
- child health
- clinical trials
- disaster & refugee medicine
- epidemiology
- essential drugs
- evidence-based medicin
- health economics
- health education
- health policy
- immunisations
- maternal & women’s health
- mental health
- needs assessment
- nutrition
- primary healthcare
- reproductive health
- study design & statistics
- and water, sanitation & hygiene (WASH).
Our partners and approved courses
Qualified medical practitioners from any of the following approved courses in tropical medicine & hygiene or global health & humanitarian medicine (GHHM) are eligible to take the Diploma in Tropical Hygiene & Medicine (DTM&H) examination.
Those who have taken American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH) approved courses that satisfy CTropMed® requirements can also sit the DTM&H examination.
FAQs for students and employers
Why study for a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene?
The Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) examination is a test of knowledge for medical doctors who wish to practice medicine effectively in tropical and sub-tropical countries.
By undertaking a course that is deemed suitable for candidates to take this exam, they should be equipped with the knowledge and skills to practice medicine and public health in resource limited countries.
Through their learning, students will have had the chance to gain knowledge and competence in clinical tropical medicine, including laboratory skills in low technology settings, tropical diseases epidemiology and control, and travel hygiene.
It may also create an interest in research in global health and encourage students to progress to higher degrees.
How does the Diploma benefit my career?
By undertaking a suitable course and demonstrating their knowledge through the exam, it will enable medically qualified clinicians to work more effectively in tropical countries and to better understand tropical infections presenting in non-tropical countries.
The courses and learning for the exam will help doctors to work more effectively in low resource settings through organisations such as Ministries of Health, other health care providers and medico- humanitarian organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
In many countries, the DTM&H qualification is required, or supportive, for career progression in Tropical Medicine, Infectious Diseases and related specialties.
How long does it take to study for Diploma?
The levels of knowledge and skill required to pass the exam are those that you would expect from someone who has undertaken approximately 250 hours of teaching time on a good quality tropical medicine course or has achieved the same level through a mixture of teaching and directed learning.
A variety of universities and private providers offer courses to help people prepare for the DTM&H.
These courses may be part-time over six months, such as the Glasgow and Sheffield DTM&H courses and the MSF GHHM courses.
Candidates who have taken full time courses for three months, such as the courses at the London and Liverpool Schools of Tropical Medicine or some of the ASTMH approved courses are also eligible.
Proficiency in microscopy is also expected, requiring at least 12 hours of microscopy/practical parasitology teaching.
How does the Diploma benefit employers?
The required courses for candidates taking this exam provide appropriate training for doctors who wish to work in resource-poor tropical countries.
The subjects covered in preparation for the exam are extensive and relevant, such as clinical tropical medicine, women’s and child health, tropical public health, communicable disease control, travel health and emergency and disaster medicine.
By holding this DTM&H qualification, employers can be reassured that that their employee has undergone a programme of teaching and learning that is highly relevant to practitioners in tropical countries.
It is also a quality assurance that the doctor has passed a rigorous and extensive examination requiring a high level of knowledge in these areas.
How can employers support their employees taking the Diploma?
Many of the DTM&H candidates are preparing for, or are already working in, the tropics.
By enabling study for the exam, the employer is supporting the employee’s progression to be a more knowledgeable, effective, and resilient doctor in the areas of tropical medicine and hygiene.
If this knowledge and these skill sets align with the aims of the employing organisation, then both employer and employee benefit.
Apply for the exam
Applications for the 2026 diet of the DTM&H examination are now open, with the examination taking place online on Wednesday 27 May 2026 (09.30-17.30 GMT).
The exam fee is £570 and applications close on Tuesday 10th March 2026 at 11.59pm.
If you have any questions about booking the examination please email academicadmin@apothecaries.org or contact your course provider.
Exam documents and policies
The below guides set out the academic policies for the Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene examination as well as giving a guide to the Diploma's syllabus and regulations.
Learn more about the Society
By taking the Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (DTM&H) examination with the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries you'll be part of a community of medical professionals at the forefront of modern day medicine.
The Society is an innovative and progressive institution with a rich history in the advancement of medical research and knowledge.
Who we are
We occupy a unique position within the medical profession, offering education and recognised qualifications in vital areas of medical practice that are not provided elsewhere.
Membership of the Society is open to members of the medical profession and pharmacists.
Our history
The word 'apothecary' is derived from apotheca, meaning a place where wine, spices and herbs were stored.
The term came into use in England in the Thirteenth Century, and the Society can trace its origins back to a Guild of Apothecaries that joined the Guild of Pepperers in the early 1300s.
By the late 1300s the Guild of Pepperers became the The Company of Grocers and in 1607 a separate Section of Apothecaries was created in the Grocer's Company.
Ten years later, in 1617, a group of Apothecaries lobbied King James I and a charter was granted separating the Apothecaries from the Grocers entirely.
Portrait of King James VI and I
Portrait of King James VI and I
In 1632 the Society purchased Cobham House Priory as its first hall.
From this location, the Apothecaries treated the sick during the Great Plague in London in 1665, but just a year later the hall was destroyed in the Great Fire of London.
The Hall was rebuilt on the same site in 1672 and remains the home of the Society to this day.
From 1672 until 1922, the Society of Apothecaries manufactured and sold medicinal and pharmaceutical products at the Hall, and in 1673 it founded the Chelsea Physic Garden, only relinquishing managerial control in 1899.
The Apothecaries' Act of 1815 gave the Society the statutory right to conduct examinations and to grant licences (LSAs) to practice Medicine throughout England and Wales, as well as the duty of regulating such practice.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (image: National Portrait Gallery)
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (image: National Portrait Gallery)
A number of interesting figures have been granted an LSA by the Society, including the poet John Keats and Nobel Prize winner Sir Ronald Ross.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first woman to gain the LSA in 1865, and Agatha Christie passed the Society's Assistant Examination in 1917.
Having been rebuilt after the Great Fire of London, the Hall largely escaped the Blitz of the Second World War and a number of new Diplomas were introduced throughout the remainder of the Twentieth Century, including the:
- Diploma of Industrial Health (1946)
- Diploma of Medical Jurisprudence (1962)
- Diploma in the History of Medicine (1970)
- Diploma in the Philosophy of Medicine (1978)
- and the Diploma in the Medical Care of Catastrophes (1994).
In 1959 founded the Faculty of History of Medicine (later expanded to the Faculty of History of Medicine and Pharmacy) and in 2005 founded the Faculty of Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine.
Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine
The Society's Faculty of Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine run a training course for doctors, dentists, nurses and other healthcare professionals who work in conflict and catastrophe environments.
The Faculty is committed to the support & promotion of the wider humanitarian health community through the innovative pursuit of education, professional development and research in the field of Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine.
The History and Philosophy of Medicine and Pharmacy
The Society's Faculty of History and Philosophy of Medicine and Pharmacy runs Diploma courses in the history of medicine, the philosophy of medicine and healthcare, and the history of pharmacy.
Courses lasting an academic year can lead to a Diploma examination, or delegates can attend purely for interest.
Apothecaries' Hall
Apothecaries' Hall has been home to the Society since 1672 and is where events and in-person lectures continue to be held to this day.
The Hall is the longest surviving livery hall in Central London.
Purchased by the Society in 1632, the original building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
'Apothecaries' Hall: The Courtyard' by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (Image: Wellcome Collection)
'Apothecaries' Hall: The Courtyard' by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (Image: Wellcome Collection)
Despite this, a significant extent of the Hall's 13th Century buildings remained.
For 250 years - from 1672 to 1922 - the Society manufactured and sold medicinal and pharmaceutical products at the Hall.
You can find Apothecaries' Hall on Black Friars Lane, a short walk from the Thames and St Paul's Cathedral.
Contact us
About the Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (DTM&H):
academicadmin@apothecaries.org
Telephone:
020 7236 1189
Address:
Apothecaries' Hall
Black Friars Lane
London EC4V 6EJ
Built with Shorthand