Licensing in Hong Kong: separate councils, separate exams for overseas-trained professionals

Medical and health education in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has two medical schools, at the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, both offering a six-year MBBS taught in English. Dentistry is taught at the University of Hong Kong. Nursing, pharmacy and allied health degrees are offered by a handful of universities, and the programmes are usually four to five years. Because the sector is small, nearly every local graduate follows the same path.

The Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) registers doctors. Graduates of the two local medical schools complete a one-year internship in approved hospitals and then apply for full registration, with no licensing exam. The MCHK Licensing Examination applies to people who trained elsewhere. After registration, specialist training is run through the colleges of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. The distinctive point for candidates is that "local" and "non-local" are separate tracks: if your degree is not from a local school, this site's exam sections are the ones that apply to you. Confirm each profession's rules with its council.

An exam for people trained elsewhere

If you trained in Hong Kong, you register on completing an accredited programme. The licensing exams here exist for everyone else: overseas graduates and returning professionals. This changes how you should read the pass rates, because the candidates trained under many different systems.

Each profession has its own statutory body, so each has its own rules, calendar and fee. There is no joint "Hong Kong licensing exam", and no central portal for them all. In recent years the government has also opened special registration routes to ease staff shortages, so the exam is no longer the only way in for some candidates.

Who needs a licensing exam in Hong Kong

• Locally trained graduates: register on completing an accredited local programme, and do not sit these exams.
• Non-locally trained doctors: need the MCHK Licensing Examination for full registration, unless they qualify for the special registration route below.
• Non-locally trained nurses, midwives and dentists: sit their council's licensing exam, or use a special registration route where one exists. A 2024 amendment created special registration routes for overseas nurses, and a limited dental route began in 2024.
• Overseas pharmacists and physiotherapists: sit the Pharmacist Registration Examination or the Physiotherapists Board Registration Examination.

Doctors: the MCHK Licensing Examination

Regulator: Medical Council of Hong Kong. The exam is held twice a year in three parts.

Part I is a written paper in two sittings of 120 single-best-answer items with five options, 3 hours 30 minutes each. To pass you need 60% overall (144 of 240) and at least 50% in each paper. That second rule is the one that catches people: a strong paper cannot rescue a weak one.

Part II is the Proficiency Test in Medical English (written). Part III is a clinical exam across medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, and paediatrics. After Part III there is an assessment period of up to 12 months.

1. Check that your qualification meets the MCHK eligibility requirements, using the Council's guidance notes.
2. Sit Part I in one of the two annual sittings.
3. Take Part II in medical English and Part III the clinical exam.
4. Complete the assessment period of up to 12 months, then apply for full registration.

Pharmacists: Pharmacist Registration Examination

Regulator: Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Hong Kong. The exam has three subjects: pharmacy legislation in Hong Kong, pharmacy practice, and pharmacology. It is held in June and December for pharmacy graduates from outside Hong Kong.

The December 2025 results show how hard the exam is. Pass rates were 38.89% for legislation (36 candidates), 12.79% for practice (86 candidates) and 42.11% for pharmacology (38 candidates). The practice paper is the obvious bottleneck: it had the most candidates and by far the lowest pass rate. Local legislation is also a trap for overseas-trained candidates who have not studied Hong Kong law at all.

Nurses: Nursing Council licensing examination

Non-locally trained registered and enrolled nurses must pass a written and a practical part. A legislative paper from 2024 confirms that both parts must be passed, and notes that candidate numbers fell during COVID. The same year an amendment created special registration routes for overseas nurses, so check whether you qualify before booking the exam. We could not verify the Nursing Council's exam website, so contact the Council for the current syllabus and dates.

Midwives

The Midwives Council holds a licensing exam for non-locally trained midwives under the Midwives Regulations. We have not verified the exam structure on an official page. Local graduates register on completing an accredited programme. Contact the Council before planning.

Dentists: Dental Council licensing examination

The Dental Council examination has a Part I written paper on professional knowledge, followed by practical and clinical parts, and applies to non-locally trained dentists. A limited special registration route for dentists was introduced in 2024. We could not reach the Council's website, so confirm structure and dates directly.

Physiotherapists: Physiotherapists Board examination

The Physiotherapists Board of the Allied Health Professions Council sets a Registration Examination for applicants whose qualifications do not fully meet the curriculum requirements, mainly overseas-trained therapists. A written exam comes first, and the practical assessment follows only once you pass the written. The published application form shows a fee of HK$6,050.

Exams in Hong Kong compared

Language and recognition

English carries the most weight. MCHK Part I can be taken in English or Traditional Chinese, Part II is a medical English test, and Part III can be conducted in English, Cantonese or Putonghua. The pharmacist exam and the council guidance documents are in English. This makes Hong Kong the most accessible of the Greater China exams for English-trained candidates, but it is also one of the most selective in practice, as the pharmacist figures show.

Hong Kong's special registration routes are the closest it comes to recognition of foreign qualifications. They depend on listed qualifications and employment arrangements, and they have changed recently, so read the current text from each council.

Preparing as an overseas-trained candidate

• For doctors, practise single-best-answer questions with a timer. Two 3 hours 30 minute papers is an endurance test.
• Track each paper's score separately, because of the 50% floor per paper.
• For pharmacists, give Hong Kong legislation its own study block, and treat the practice paper as the main hurdle.
• Read the guidance notes for your sitting before you book. They set the rules for that year.

Last reviewed October 2026