Practising in Croatia: the oral professional exam and chamber licensing

Medical and health education in Croatia

Medicine is a six-year integrated degree taught at the universities of Zagreb, Rijeka, Split and Osijek. Dentistry is taught at Zagreb, Rijeka and Split, and pharmacy at Zagreb and Split. Nursing, midwifery and physiotherapy are taught at universities and university colleges as bachelor programmes.

Zagreb and Split also run medical programmes in English, mostly for international students. Those students study the same curriculum as the Croatian cohort, but the stručni ispit is in Croatian, so a graduate who wants to stay needs to prepare the language as well as the content.

Graduation does not give a right to practise on its own. The graduate completes the internship, passes the stručni ispit and then receives the chamber licence. The sequence matters: employers cannot take on a graduate as an independent doctor before the exam.

Croatia joined the EU in 2013, so a Croatian diploma in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing or midwifery benefits from automatic recognition for EU nationals. A graduate who then wants a UK, Australian or Gulf licence faces that country's own exam, the same as graduates of any other EU school.

An oral system, not a multiple-choice one

If you came to this page looking for a Croatian question bank, here is the plain answer: the stručni ispit is oral. Candidates face a commission and answer questions on health law and on clinical practice. That changes how you prepare. You need to explain, justify and structure answers aloud, not pick from five options.

The Ministry of Health organises the exam. It has two parts, a general part and a professional part. The general part covers the health system, health insurance, labour law and professional rules. The professional part tests clinical knowledge for the profession. Results are pass or fail per part, with supplementary sittings for a failed subject.

Who needs the stručni ispit in Croatia

Croatian graduates in all six professions take it. The detailed rules differ by profession, and the Ministry has been rewriting some of the implementing regulations. Treat the nurse, midwife, pharmacist and dentist rows below as likely rather than certain until you have read the current pravilnik for your profession.

Non-EU graduates sit the same exam after nostrification. For some professions the internship is waived for third-country graduates, so the exam comes sooner.

Doctors: Zakon o liječništvu and the chamber licence

The Medical Practice Act (Zakon o liječništvu, Article 6) makes the professional exam mandatory after the internship. Article 6a exempts EU nationals. The exam is oral, before a Ministry commission, and has a general and a professional part.

1. Complete the internship. A supervised period in hospital and primary care, with a mentor.
2. Apply to the Ministry. Submit the application, diploma and proof of internship.
3. Sit the exam. Answer the general part and the professional part before the commission.
4. Get the licence. Apply to the Croatian Medical Chamber for the licence (odobrenje za samostalan rad).

Physiotherapists: the best-documented profession

Physiotherapy is the profession with the clearest published rules. Bachelors and technicians sit the exam after a 12-month internship. It is oral only, with a general part on the health system, insurance and labour law and a professional part. Pass or fail is decided per subject.

A candidate who fails one or two subjects sits a supplementary exam. Failing three or more means a full retake after three months. Third-country graduates sit the exam without the internship.

Nurses, midwives, pharmacists and dentists

These four professions also take a stručni ispit, with their own chambers (Hrvatska komora medicinskih sestara, Hrvatska komora primalja, Hrvatska ljekarnička komora, Hrvatska komora dentalne medicine). The format is likely oral and organised by the Ministry, but we have not confirmed the current regulation for each. Ask your chamber for the programme of the exam.

Croatian exams at a glance

Language and recognition routes

EU nationals use Directive 2005/36/EC and, for doctors, are exempt from the exam. They still need enough Croatian to practise safely. Employers and chambers expect it, and hospital work in Croatia runs in Croatian.

Non-EU graduates follow a longer path: diploma nostrification at a Croatian faculty, Croatian language, then the exam, then the chamber licence. Gulf, UK and US routes for Croatian graduates are separate exams and sit outside the Croatian system.

If you plan to work abroad after Croatia

Many Croatian graduates leave for Germany, Austria, Ireland or the UK. The stručni ispit is a domestic exam and no other country takes it as proof of competence, but the licence and diploma support an application under the directive. Germany will ask for a language certificate at B2 and a medical-language test (Fachsprachprüfung). The UK requires PLAB or an accepted alternative route through the GMC. Ireland's Medical Council has its own requirements for EU graduates.

Plan the timeline backwards. Foreign regulators ask for a certificate of good standing from your Croatian chamber, so keep the chamber registration current even if you are already abroad.

How to prepare for an oral licensing exam

Rehearse cases out loud. Take a topic, such as acute abdomen or hypertension in pregnancy, and give a two-minute structured answer: definition, assessment, investigations, management, and when to refer. Record yourself and listen back for gaps.

Read the legal part carefully. The general part of the exam rewards candidates who know the patient rights law, the health insurance rules and the code of ethics, and those are often the subjects people leave until last.

Last reviewed October 2026