# Practising for Occupational Medicine (DOccMed oral) with MedMock Canonical page: https://medmock.com/exams/occupational-medicine-doccmed-oral ## What is the DOccMed viva, and how do you practise for it? The Faculty of Occupational Medicine's Diploma in Occupational Medicine (DOccMed) oral examination. The DOccMed comprises a written multiple-choice paper and a 20-minute portfolio-based Structured Oral Examination conducted by two examiners on the candidate's submitted clinical portfolio. MedMock practises the whole 20-minute oral examination across its two 10-minute examiner halves: you can type, paste or upload your own portfolio cases on the pre-station screen, or practise immediately using a built-in sample DOccMed portfolio. The written MCQ paper and the examiners' separate marking of the written portfolio document itself are not practised here. MedMock lets you practise it out loud against an AI examiner, with examiner-style feedback on any question you finish. An illustrative example station, written by MedMock with example feedback, is at https://medmock.com/exams/occupational-medicine-doccmed-oral/example ## What happens in the real DOccMed (checked against the official source on 2026-10-24) The Diploma in Occupational Medicine (DOccMed), awarded by the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FOM), is the core UK qualification for doctors working in occupational health practice. The examination consists of a written Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) paper and a 20-minute portfolio-based oral examination with two examiners. Candidates submit a portfolio beforehand and are questioned for 10 minutes by each examiner on their submitted case work and the wider DOccMed syllabus. - **Examiner 1 — Portfolio Case Viva** (10 minutes): The first 10-minute half of the 20-minute oral examination: one examiner questions the candidate on a clinical occupational health case from their submitted portfolio, testing occupational exposure assessment, workplace risk control, clinical reasoning, fitness-for-work advice, reasonable adjustments and ethical reporting. - **Examiner 2 — Applied Occupational Health Viva** (10 minutes): The second 10-minute half of the 20-minute oral examination: the second examiner starts from the candidate’s portfolio and widens out across the DOccMed syllabus, including workplace health and safety legislation, COSHH, noise and vibration regulations, statutory health surveillance, RIDDOR reporting, fitness standards and rehabilitation. Marking: Two Faculty of Occupational Medicine examiners conduct the 20-minute oral together, questioning for 10 minutes each and marking the candidate’s performance against the FOM DOccMed oral assessment criteria. Passing: Candidates must complete an FOM-approved DOccMed training course, pass the written MCQ paper, submit an acceptable portfolio and pass the 20-minute oral examination to be awarded the Diploma in Occupational Medicine. Sources: https://www.fom.ac.uk/education/examinations/diploma-in-occupational-medicine https://www.fom.ac.uk/education/examinations/regulations-and-guidance Full format page: https://medmock.com/exams/occupational-medicine-doccmed-oral/format ## How to prepare for the DOccMed (facts checked against official sources on 2026-10-24) The Diploma in Occupational Medicine (DOccMed) oral is a 20-minute portfolio viva with two Faculty of Occupational Medicine examiners. Prepare by knowing every clinical, workplace and ethical detail of your submitted portfolio cases and practising how the second examiner widens out from your portfolio across the DOccMed syllabus. 1. **Complete an FOM-approved course and prepare your portfolio early** — To enter the DOccMed examination you must hold GMC registration (or acceptable equivalent registration) and have completed a Faculty-approved DOccMed training course. Choose portfolio cases where you personally assessed the worker, evaluated the workplace exposures and wrote the occupational health report. 2. **Know the clinical and workplace detail of your portfolio cases** — In the first 10-minute half of the oral, Examiner 1 questions you directly on your submitted portfolio. Be ready to justify your occupational history, hazard and risk evaluation, hierarchy of control measures, clinical reasoning, fitness-for-work opinion and reasonable adjustments. 3. **Prepare for Examiner 2 widening out across the DOccMed syllabus** — In the second 10-minute half, Examiner 2 starts from your portfolio and tests breadth across the DOccMed syllabus: the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, COSHH 2002, Control of Noise and Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, Control of Lead and Asbestos Regulations, statutory health surveillance and RIDDOR 2013 reporting. 4. **Practise occupational health ethics, consent and report writing aloud** — Examiners test the impartial advisory role of the occupational physician under the FOM Ethics Guidance, GMC Confidentiality and the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988. Practise explaining informed consent for management reports, separating confidential clinical detail from functional advice, and the Equality Act 2010 framework. 5. **Rehearse concise spoken answers against two 10-minute clocks** — The 20-minute oral has no separate reading window on the day and moves briskly between two examiners. Practise defending your own portfolio cases and answering follow-up regulatory and fitness-for-work questions aloud in timed 10-minute halves. Official resources: - Diploma in Occupational Medicine (DOccMed) — FOM (https://www.fom.ac.uk/education/examinations/diploma-in-occupational-medicine): The Faculty of Occupational Medicine page for the DOccMed examination, syllabus, approved courses and dates. - DOccMed Regulations and Guidance — FOM (https://www.fom.ac.uk/education/examinations/regulations-and-guidance): Official regulations and portfolio guidance for candidates sitting the written MCQ paper and 20-minute portfolio oral. Common mistakes examiners report: - Recommending personal protective equipment first instead of walking through the hierarchy of controls from elimination, substitution and engineering controls downwards. (source: https://www.fom.ac.uk/education/examinations/diploma-in-occupational-medicine) - Blurring confidential clinical diagnosis with functional fitness-for-work advice in reports to management, or overlooking worker consent requirements. (source: https://www.fom.ac.uk/education/examinations/regulations-and-guidance) Sources: https://www.fom.ac.uk/education/examinations/diploma-in-occupational-medicine https://www.fom.ac.uk/education/examinations/regulations-and-guidance Full guide: https://medmock.com/exams/occupational-medicine-doccmed-oral/prepare Dates: The Faculty of Occupational Medicine runs the DOccMed portfolio oral examination in two diets a year following the MCQ paper and portfolio submission deadline; check the FOM DOccMed examination page for current submission and oral dates. (source: Faculty of Occupational Medicine). All DOccMed dates: https://medmock.com/exams/occupational-medicine-doccmed-oral#dates ## Stations you can practise - **Examiner 1 — Portfolio Case Viva** — 10-minute examiner-led oral defending a case from your DOccMed portfolio: occupational history, workplace hazard and exposure assessment, risk control hierarchy, clinical reasoning, fitness-for-work advice, reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, and ethical and consent requirements for occupational health reports. - **Examiner 2 — Applied Occupational Health Viva** — 10-minute examiner-led oral starting from your portfolio and widening out across the DOccMed syllabus: COSHH, Control of Noise at Work, Control of Vibration at Work, health surveillance, RIDDOR 2013 reporting, DVLA Group 1 and Group 2 medical standards, ill-health retirement and return-to-work rehabilitation. ## Sample DOccMed questions - *Examiner 1 — Portfolio Case Viva:* Walk me through the occupational exposure assessment in your portfolio case, how you established work-relatedness, and what reasonable adjustments and hierarchy-of-control measures you recommended to the employer. - *Examiner 2 — Applied Occupational Health Viva:* Explain when statutory health surveillance is required under COSHH, how it differs from fitness-for-work assessment, and when an occupational diagnosis becomes reportable under RIDDOR 2013. ## Example scenarios - *Examiner 1 — Portfolio Case Viva:* Walk me through the occupational exposure assessment in your portfolio case, how you established work-relatedness, and what reasonable adjustments and hierarchy-of-control measures you recommended to the employer. - *Examiner 2 — Applied Occupational Health Viva:* Explain when statutory health surveillance is required under COSHH, how it differs from fitness-for-work assessment, and when an occupational diagnosis becomes reportable under RIDDOR 2013. ## How a practice session works 1. **Choose a question** — Pick from the DOccMed questions — both of them, or let MedMock surprise you the way exam day will. 2. **Have the conversation** — Speak naturally, out loud. The AI examiner listens, follows up and probes further, exactly like the viva. 3. **Get instant feedback** — The moment you finish, you get specific, examiner-style feedback and a score — what you did well, what cost you marks, and precisely what to fix before the next attempt. ## Price Start with a one-off £5 taster: 30 credits (30 minutes of speaking practice), not a subscription. After that, or instead, £69 per month for 350 credits. One credit is one minute of spoken practice, or two typed exchanges, and where the examiner or patient speaks first, that opening line is free. Examiner scorecards, mark schemes and model answers for finished sessions are included at no extra credit cost. Cancel at any time. Full details: https://medmock.com/pricing ## Frequently asked questions ### How does the feedback work? When you finish a question you can have it marked, and the scorecard comes back in seconds — what you did well, what cost you marks, and exactly what to work on next. Scorecards, mark schemes and model answers are included at no extra credit cost. ### Can I practise specific DOccMed questions? Yes. You can pick either question to drill a weak area, or run a Full Mock that takes you through the questions MedMock practises, back to back. ### How much does it cost? You can start with a one-off £5 taster: 30 credits, which is 30 minutes of speaking practice, with no subscription. After that, or at any time, you can choose a monthly plan, which includes a monthly credit allowance. Current prices are on the pricing page. ## About MedMock MedMock is a web app for practising the spoken parts of UK medical and dental exams and interviews out loud. The candidate talks; an AI patient, examiner or interview panel answers in real time by voice; and when the station ends MedMock marks the performance against that exam's assessment domains and shows the model answer. It covers 104 spoken exams and interviews — OSCEs, vivas, structured oral exams, simulated consultations, and specialty-training and consultant interviews. It does not cover written or multiple-choice papers, and it is not a question bank. It was founded by Mr Sam Nahas, MBBS BSc MEd FRCS (Tr & Orth), a practising consultant orthopaedic surgeon in the UK, with co-founder and CTO Arjan Jandu. It is operated by VirtualPatients Ltd (company no. 16303492). Pricing: a one-off £5 taster of 30 credits to try it (not a subscription, one per account), and a monthly subscription from £20 to £129 depending on the exam (student exams cost least, fellowship exit exams and consultant interviews most), or £199 to £275 for the Intensive plans, which carry more credits. One credit is one minute of spoken practice, or two typed exchanges, and where the examiner or patient speaks first, that opening line is free. Examiner scorecards, mark schemes and model answers for finished sessions are included at no extra credit cost. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. It runs in a web browser on a laptop or phone; spoken practice needs a microphone. There is no public demo: practice needs an account with credits, usually from the taster or a monthly plan. MedMock is for adults aged 18 or over. Sign-up asks every new account to confirm it. MedMock is a revision tool. The patients, examiners and cases are fictional and AI-generated; it is not clinical guidance and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any Royal College, the GMC, the GDC or any examining body. Start with the £5 taster: https://medmock.com/auth/signup