Licensing exams for doctors: which one applies where you want to practise

How doctors are licensed around the world

Three models cover most countries.

• A national licensing exam for everyone. Graduates, local and foreign, sit the same exam. Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia work this way, and so do the Gulf emirates. The UK is moving this way for its own graduates with the UK Medical Licensing Assessment.
• An exam only for internationally trained doctors. Local graduates are registered by their medical school, while foreign graduates must pass an assessment. PLAB (UK), the AMC examinations (Australia), NZREX Clinical (New Zealand), PRES (Ireland), and the Kenntnisprüfung (Germany) fit here.
• Registration by qualification. No licensing exam; the regulator checks your degree and sometimes your training. Examples include Singapore and Austria for local graduates, and Pakistan for locally trained doctors. Foreign graduates in these countries usually still face an assessment.

The sections below set out the main exams. Where our research has not confirmed an exam, we leave it out rather than guess.

Exams by destination

United Kingdom: PLAB 1 and PLAB 2

The General Medical Council runs the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board test. PLAB 1 is a test of 180 single-best-answer questions (five options) in three hours, and the GMC offers it at centres in the UK and in other countries. PLAB 2 is a clinical skills examination (an OSCE-style circuit) held in the UK. You must show English at the GMC's required level, using IELTS or OET among other accepted evidence. Other routes to registration exist, for example through certain postgraduate qualifications, so check the GMC's route finder before assuming PLAB is your only option. UK graduates now sit the UK Medical Licensing Assessment, which has an applied knowledge test and a clinical and professional skills assessment.

Australia: AMC MCQ and AMC Clinical

On the standard pathway, internationally qualified doctors first pass the AMC MCQ examination: a computer-adaptive test with 150 scored items, 3.5 hours, delivered by Pearson VUE at centres worldwide. The AMC authorisation fee is AUD 2,920 for the MCQ. They then sit the AMC Clinical Examination, an OSCE-style multi-station assessment, which costs AUD 3,000 in person (AUD 3,400 online, including a levy). All fees exclude GST and are set by the AMC, so check the current schedule. Competent authority and specialist pathways bypass part of this route for some doctors.

United States: USMLE

International medical graduates pursue ECFMG certification and pass USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK before applying for residency; Step 3 follows during residency. USMLE is run by the FSMB and NBME. Graduates of osteopathic schools may take COMLEX-USA instead. The exam structure was updated in 2026, so read the current content outline on usmle.org.

Canada: MCCQE Part I

The Medical Council of Canada's Qualifying Examination Part I is a one-day exam of 230 multiple-choice items in two sections of 115, delivered by Prometric in Canada and in over 70 other countries. Provincial regulators set the wider requirements for a licence.

Ireland, New Zealand and Germany

Ireland's Medical Council runs PRES: Level 2 is a written test of clinical knowledge and Level 3 is a clinical assessment. New Zealand uses NZREX Clinical, an OSCE with 12 stations over three hours. Germany requires non-EU graduates without full recognition to pass an oral-practical Kenntnisprüfung (60 to 90 minutes with a patient) and a medical German language exam at C1 level.

Gulf states

Saudi Arabia: the Saudi Medical Licensure Examination is 200 single-best-answer questions in two 100-question blocks, with up to 20 unscored pilot items, delivered by Prometric. Qatar: the Department of Healthcare Professions general practitioner exam is 150 MCQs in three hours with a 60% cut score. Abu Dhabi: the DOH general practitioner exam is 120 MCQs in 2.5 hours at Pearson VUE. Dubai: the DHA professional assessment uses a Prometric computer test and, for some titles, an oral. The Ministry of Health and Prevention also runs an evaluation exam with a 60% pass mark. Oman (OMSB) and Bahrain (NHRA) run computer-based MCQ exams too. Kuwait has a Ministry of Health exam and plans a Kuwaiti Medical Licensing Examination from 2027.

Comparison of the major doctors' exams

Fees and formats change. We list a fee only where the regulator's page gave one when we checked.

International mobility: the common routes

1. Verify your degree. Most regulators require primary-source verification of your medical qualification, often through a service such as ECFMG (EPIC) in the United States or the regulator's own portal.
2. Prove your language. English-speaking regulators accept IELTS or OET, with minimum scores set by each regulator. Germany requires a C1 medical German exam. Gulf regulators set their own requirements, so read each one.
3. Pass the knowledge exam. This is the part TriagePass trains: PLAB 1, AMC MCQ, USMLE Step 1 and 2 CK, MCCQE Part I, SMLE, or a Gulf computer test.
4. Pass the clinical exam where there is one. PLAB 2, AMC Clinical and NZREX Clinical are practical assessments, held at fixed centres.
5. Secure a post and a visa. The UK, Australia and the United States each have their own job-matching and visa steps that sit outside the licensing exam.

A doctor in Pakistan, India, Nigeria or Egypt can often sit the first, knowledge-based exam without leaving home, because the test providers run centres in many countries. A doctor in Lahore can sit PLAB 1 there and travel to the UK only for PLAB 2.

Language tests

For the UK and Australia you will need IELTS or OET (or another accepted language evidence). The GMC publishes the minimum scores and accepted alternatives, and they have changed more than once, so read its current page and book the test early, because results can take weeks. Gulf regulators ask less often for language tests. Germany requires its own Fachsprachprüfung. Language results are only valid for a limited time, so plan the order of your exams.

What to prepare

• Guidelines of the destination country. PLAB tests UK practice (NICE guidelines, BNF), not the practice in the country where you trained. USMLE tests US practice.
• The blueprint. Read the exam's content outline and weightings first. Spend your hours in proportion to them.
• Exam style. Practise single-best-answer questions under time. Both pace and elimination technique are learned.
• Ethics and professionalism. UK and Australian exams test consent, confidentiality and duty of candour. These domains are easy marks once you know the local standards.
• Clinical skills. For the practical exams, rehearse with a partner. A question bank will not replace that.

Choosing a pass length

A working doctor who needs a first knowledge exam usually plans three months. A doctor starting fresh on a new guideline set, or sitting a two-part route, often takes six. The pricing page lists the options, and the study planner estimates how many months you need.