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Dip PEC Guide 2027: Format, Blueprint and How to Pass

The Dip PEC(SA) is the Diploma in Primary Emergency Care of the College of Emergency Medicine of South Africa, examined by the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA). It is written as two online papers: Paper 1, a multiple-choice question (MCQ) paper, and Paper 2, a Visually Aided Question (VAQ) paper of MCQs. It tests broad emergency care.

By Certiva · Updated 1 October 2026 · ~10 min read

Unlike the fellowship primaries, the Dip PEC is not a registrar-entry exam. It is a diploma for doctors who want to be sharper and more confident in the emergency centre: community service doctors, medical officers, doctors in district and rural hospitals, and doctors between posts who want a recognised emergency qualification on their CV. This guide covers what the exam involves, what Paper 1 tests, the references worth your time and a 12-week plan that fits around clinical work.

Dip PEC(SA) key facts

Here is everything the CMSA states about the Dip PEC(SA) on one screen.

Last checked: 1 October 2026. Certiva is independent and not affiliated with the CMSA.

What is the Dip PEC exam format?

The Dip PEC(SA) is examined in two online written papers, both built from multiple-choice questions.

• Paper 1 is an MCQ paper. This is the paper Certiva's question bank covers.
• Paper 2 is a Visually Aided Question (VAQ) paper of MCQs.

All CMSA examinations have been written on an online platform since 2021. For the length of each paper and the rules on the day, use the official Dip PEC(SA) regulations and candidate information leaflet linked from the CMSA Dip PEC(SA) page.

What does the Dip PEC cover?

Dip PEC Paper 1 spans the whole of undifferentiated emergency care, from resuscitation and trauma to the medical, surgical, paediatric and obstetric emergencies you see on a busy shift.

The CMSA publishes the official Dip PEC(SA) blueprint (PDF), and that is the document to plan from. The table below shows how Certiva's Dip PEC Paper 1 question bank is organised: 25 sections and 400 questions. The counts describe Certiva's bank, not the official weighting of the paper, but they give you a sense of how broad the content is.

Two things stand out. First, the "big three" (cardiovascular, respiratory and trauma) make up about a third of the bank. Second, the long tail matters: ethics, prehospital care, research and leadership are small sections, but they are easy marks to lose if you have never studied them formally.

How many questions are in the Dip PEC Paper 1?

The CMSA sets the number of questions in each paper, so check the current Dip PEC(SA) regulations and candidate information leaflet for the official figure.

What we can tell you is how Certiva practice is structured: 400 Paper 1 questions across 25 sections, plus two timed mocks. That is enough to cover every section of the bank more than once when you count the revision rounds.

When is the Dip PEC written?

The Dip PEC(SA) is written in one of the CMSA's two written-examination semesters each year.

First-semester written papers are usually in February/March and second-semester papers around July/August. Exact dates are published in the CMSA written examination timetable, so confirm your sitting there before you count back your study weeks.

Who can write the Dip PEC?

According to the CMSA, you qualify with 12 months of supervised training at a teaching or CMSA-approved hospital, or with a completed portfolio and a supervisor letter.

That makes the Dip PEC accessible to a wide group of South African doctors: community service doctors finishing a year with emergency exposure, medical officers covering casualty, and doctors in smaller hospitals who build up a portfolio over time. If you are unsure which route fits your training, ask the CMSA before you apply. The examination fee listed by the CMSA is R16,800.

Are there Dip PEC past papers?

No. CMSA examinations have been written online since 2021, and past papers are no longer published because questions stay in a secure bank.

Any older recalled questions you come across will not reflect current guidelines or the current blueprint. A question bank mapped to the blueprint, with explanations and references you can check, is the practical alternative.

Which textbooks should I use?

Keep it small: one core handbook, the current resuscitation algorithms and a few trusted online references.

These are the references used in Certiva's bank:

• Oxford Handbook of Emergency Medicine, 5th edition. The backbone of the bank, used across almost every section from respiratory and trauma to paediatrics, obstetrics and ethics.
• Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa (RCSA) algorithms. The 2025 Basic Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Arrest, Post-ROSC, Newborn Resuscitation and Choking algorithms, the 2023 Trauma Cardiac Arrest algorithm and the 2026 Organophosphate/Carbamate Poisoning algorithm.
• Life in the Fast Lane (LITFL). The ECG Library, plus Critical Care Compendium entries on topics such as malaria, diabetic ketoacidosis, compartment syndrome and massive transfusion.
• The Dip PEC(SA) regulations. Useful for the scope of the EMS, ethics and medicolegal, and management content.

Learn the algorithms until you can draw them from memory. Resuscitation content runs through cardiovascular, trauma, paediatric and toxicology questions, not just its own section.

How should I study for the Dip PEC?

Give yourself about 12 weeks: ten weeks working through the content in proportion to its size, then two weeks of timed mocks and targeted revision.

The plan below groups the 25 sections of Certiva's bank into roughly equal weekly loads of 32 to 48 questions. Read the relevant Oxford Handbook chapters first, then do that week's questions and read every explanation, whether you were right or wrong.

Make the plan work around shifts

• Little and often beats marathons. Six or seven questions a day after a shift covers a 45-question week.
• Use your patients. When you see DKA, a snakebite or a tension pneumothorax at work, do the matching questions that night. Clinical memory sticks.
• Track subtopics, not your average. Seventy percent overall can hide 40% in toxidromes. Spend weeks 11 and 12 on the gaps.
• Rehearse timing. Sit both mocks in one go, under exam-like conditions, so pacing is not a surprise on the day.

How Certiva helps

Certiva gives you a Dip PEC Paper 1 question bank built around the way you will actually revise: topic by topic, then under time pressure.

• 400 questions across 25 sections, from cardiovascular and trauma to ethics and prehospital care.
• Explained and referenced answers. Every question has a teaching explanation and the source it is based on, so you can go back to the Oxford Handbook or the RCSA algorithm.
• Smart revision and a weakness tracker that highlight the subtopics worth revisiting.
• Two timed mocks to rehearse the full paper.
• A free 5-question sample with no account and no card.
• A refund or more time. On an eligible Exam Pass, if you complete the full bank and every timed mock before your sitting and do not pass, you can claim a refund or an extra access period within 30 days of your result. See the exam refund conditions.

See what is included on the Dip PEC exam prep page and compare access periods on the pricing page. Two free extras help beyond revision: the free CV maker for when you list your new diploma and apply for posts, and free ethics CPD courses.

Frequently asked questions

More CMSA exam guides

• FCPsych Primaries guide
• FCS Primary guide
• FCP Part 1 guide
• FCPaeds Part 1 guide
• FCOG Part 1 guide

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