HERMES Paediatric Respiratory study guide
HERMES Paediatric Respiratory · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The HERMES Examination in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine is the paediatric sitting of the ERS HERMES online examinations, which the European Respiratory Society describes as setting a common, high standard of knowledge among respiratory specialists and trainees in Europe. The examinations date from 2008 and are described by ERS as based on European syllabi in respiratory medicine, accredited by the European Board for Accreditation in Pneumology (EBAP) and approved by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) and the European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP); the Swiss societies of pulmonology and paediatric pulmonology have adopted HERMES exams as their mandatory written exit exam for final-year trainees. ERS lists three examination categories: European Diploma (qualified specialists or final-year trainees finishing their national programme), In-training (trainees measuring themselves against European standards) and Self-assessment (qualified doctors keeping up to date). The paper is 90 multiple-choice questions in English, delivered online under human supervision via the CYIM/ProctorU invigilation platform, lasting 3 hours without breaks and mixing Type-A and K-prime items with no negative marking. Preparation support includes ERS examination preparation courses offering 30 case-based questions drawn from the HERMES question pool; the paediatric course is advertised for 25 August 2026, online. This page is independent study material and is not affiliated with or endorsed by ERS. Topics on this exam: Paediatric respiratory medicine (single combined syllabus; subdomains not enumerated in source). The HERMES Paediatric Respiratory study guide has 1 section and about 383 words.
01Paediatric Respiratory Medicine (HERMES Syllabus)
Paediatric respiratory medicine is examined as a single HERMES/ERS syllabus domain. Questions test whether you can apply respiratory physiology, diagnostics and therapy to lungs that are still growing, where airway calibre, chest-wall compliance and drug handling all differ from adults. Airway resistance rises with the fourth power of radius, so infants with mucosal oedema obstruct quickly; a compliant chest wall and low functional residual capacity mean rapid desaturation and apnoea risk. Bronchiolitis (typically RSV, under 12 months) is managed supportively: oxygen to SpO2 at least 90-92%, enteral fluids and suction.
383 words, about 2 minMore study resources for HERMES Paediatric Respiratory
- Practice questionsA 4-year-old presents with a 3-day history of coryza followed by a barking cough and hoarse voice.
- FlashcardsCroup first-line drug. Dexamethasone 0.15–0.6 mg/kg as a single oral, intramuscular or intravenous dose; it reduces duration and severity of barking cough and stridor in all grades of croup, including mild disease.
- Cheat sheetNormal infant respiratory rate: newborn 30–60/min, falling to 20–30/min by 12 months; tachypnoea thresholds used by WHO for pneumonia are ≥60/min under 2 months, ≥50/min at 2–11 months, ≥40/min at 12–59 months.
- Key termsTachypnoea. An abnormally fast breathing rate for age.
- Study planMap the full paediatric respiratory syllabus into a personal topic checklist, weighting the highest-yield areas (asthma and wheeze, bronchiolitis, cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, sleep-disordered breathing) at the top.
- Common mistakesAdult respiratory training and most revision resources are adult-centric, so adult thresholds are over-learned and retrieved first under time pressure; peak flow is also often impossible in children under about 5, which pushes candidates toward remembered adult numbers.
- Exam-day guideBring the exact ID type and name spelling used on your registration.