DICM - Why do it?

Why do the Diploma in ICM?

If you're not sure whether or not to go for it, ask yourself why you're doing it.

If it's because you're bored and like a challenge, go for it! It's tough, it's something to get your teeth into, and because it's not mandatory to your career progression, it's a test of your own initiative and willpower. If you succeed, you will be one of a select few in the country to hold the qualification.

If it's to enhance your future job prospects, think carefully. The DICM takes a lot of work - as much as any other exam you've written, possibly more. It may be that that time would bring more value to your CV by doing research, a management qualification, or being active in some or other speciality association. The European Diploma in Intensive Care (EDIC) offers a credible ICU qualification for (I suspect) a lot less time input. With proportionately few trainees interested in ICU careers, it shouldn't be too difficult to get a post as an intensive care consultant. I'm not saying 'don't bother adding the DICM to your CV'; but unless you see yourself competing for a specific popular post, I don't think it will be the factor that decides whether you get a job or not.

If it's because you need an incentive to extend your knowledge of ICU medicine, the ICU literature and your critical skills, then by all means do it. I don't know about you, but when I get home after a long day, the last thing I want to do is wade through a textbook or my mail copy of the BJA and be a 'reflective practitioner'. A goal, a structure and a deadline provides tremendous motivation. Doing the DICM will make you more knowledgable, a better clinician, more familiar with past research, and more skilled at finding and digesting new evidence. To my mind this is the best reason to do the Diploma.