Indonesian competency exams for doctors, nurses and allied health

Medical and health education in Indonesia

Medicine in Indonesia is split in two. A bachelor’s phase (Sarjana Kedokteran) of about three and a half to four years is followed by a clinical professional stage (profesi dokter, known as koas) of about one and a half to two years, so the full path takes roughly five and a half to six years. Around a hundred medical schools teach in Indonesian, and programmes are accredited by the independent agency LAM-PTKes. Dentistry follows a similar academic-plus-professional structure, pharmacy has a bachelor’s plus an apoteker year, and nursing has a bachelor’s plus a Ners professional year.

The link to licensing is direct. Before the professional title is awarded, students sit the national competency exam (UKMPPD), and graduates then receive a registration certificate (STR) from the Indonesian Medical Council (KKI). A one-year internship (internsip) is the next step before a practice licence (SIP) is normally issued. Nurses and other health workers sit their own national competency exam (UKOM). The 2023 Health Law changed registration and the licensing arrangements, and we could not verify every detail, so confirm the present rules with KKI and the Ministry of Health. Foreign degrees need recognition and an adaptation process.

What changed in 2023, and why it matters if you are retaking

Indonesia's licensing system was reorganised by Health Law 17/2023. Before the law, responsibilities were split differently between professional bodies, colleges and councils. Now the national competency exams are run by Kemenkes, and a single body, the KKI, handles registration. The STR (Surat Tanda Registrasi, registration certificate) used to expire and need renewal. It is now issued for life, although the requirement to keep up competence through continuing professional development still applies.

For a candidate, the practical consequences are these:

• Check the Kemenkes and KKI websites, not old college pages, for registration rules and exam announcements.
• Older guides that describe the exam as run by a medical education committee, or that describe a renewable five-year STR, are out of date.
• The national exam is a graduation gate in the professional programme. You cannot register without passing it, and a large number of people sit it more than once.

That last point shapes the market. Retakers, known locally as the "retaker" cohort, form a distinct group of candidates who have finished their coursework and are preparing for another attempt, often while working or waiting. The doctors' exam runs four times a year, which shortens the wait between attempts compared with countries that hold two sittings.

Who needs a licensing exam in Indonesia

Every locally trained graduate in the professions below sits a national competency exam at the end of their professional programme. Foreign-trained applicants do not simply sit the same paper. For doctors, the route runs through an adaptation programme (program adaptasi) and evaluation. For other professions, foreign graduates should ask Kemenkes and KKI about credential assessment, because the published rules differ by profession and change under the new law.

Doctors: UKMPPD

The Uji Kompetensi Mahasiswa Program Profesi Dokter (UKMPPD, national competency exam for medical profession students) is taken in the final stage of the professional doctor programme. It has two components. The first is a computer-based test of 200 single-best-answer multiple-choice questions. The second is an OSCE, which tests clinical skills at a station circuit. You must clear both to graduate as a doctor and obtain your STR.

The exam is held four times a year. Foreign-graduate doctors and Indonesians trained abroad enter through the adaptation programme, which places them in an accredited Indonesian institution for supervised practice before an evaluation.

1. Complete the clinical stage (koas). The professional programme comes after the academic degree.
2. Register for the next UKMPPD cycle. Your institution submits you through the national system.
3. Pass the CBT and the OSCE. Each part has its own pass mark.
4. Take the oath and apply for your STR through KKI.

Nurses: Uji Kompetensi Ners

The national nurse competency exam is a computer-based multiple-choice test of about 180 items. It is taken by Ners (professional nurse) graduates and also by D3 nursing graduates. The cohort is one of the largest in Southeast Asia, and many Indonesian nurses also aim for work in Japan under the EPA scheme or in the Middle East, which adds a second set of exams afterwards.

Midwives: Uji Kompetensi Bidan

Midwives sit a computer-based multiple-choice exam after D3, D4 or professional midwifery programmes. Indonesia has one of the largest midwife workforces in the world, and the exam is a core gate for it. The published detail of item numbers and passing rules is held by the Ministry, so check the current announcement for your cycle.

Pharmacists: UKAI

The Uji Kompetensi Apoteker Indonesia (UKAI) is taken after the Apoteker professional programme. It combines a computer-based multiple-choice test with an OSCE. A graduate of the S1 pharmacy degree alone does not sit it; the Apoteker programme is the route in.

Dentists: UKMP2DG

The Uji Kompetensi Mahasiswa Program Profesi Dokter Gigi (UKMP2DG) is the dentists' counterpart to the UKMPPD: a computer-based multiple-choice exam plus an OSCE for final-stage dental students.

Physiotherapists

The national physiotherapy competency exam (Uji Kompetensi Fisioterapis) is a computer-based multiple-choice test for D3, D4 and S1 physiotherapy graduates. As with nursing and midwifery, graduates of several educational levels share a single registration system.

Comparison

Recognition and language

There is no EU-style directive route into Indonesia. Foreign-qualified doctors enter through the adaptation programme and evaluation, which also tests language and local practice. Indonesia is a party to ASEAN mutual recognition arrangements for some professions, but these arrangements do not remove national registration requirements, and they have little practical effect on the exam gate described here.

Because the papers are in Bahasa Indonesia, an English-only question bank is not enough. Learn the Indonesian clinical terms alongside the English ones.

A study plan that matches the exam

Single-best-answer questions reward elimination and pattern recognition, so do timed blocks early and not only in the final month. For the OSCE, practise stations with a partner. For retakers, the most useful step is to look at the score report by domain, if your institution provides one, and spend the first two weeks on the weakest areas rather than starting again from the beginning.

Last reviewed October 2026