Palestine: two licensing systems and the exams that open each one

Medical and health education in Palestine

Palestinian medical education is delivered by several universities in the West Bank and Gaza, including An-Najah National University in Nablus, Al-Quds University, Hebron University, the Arab American University in Jenin, and, in Gaza, the Islamic University and Al-Azhar University. The medical degree takes about six or seven years, including clinical rotations in hospitals such as those in Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron and Gaza City, and is taught in Arabic and English. Many Palestinians also train abroad, in Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Eastern Europe and elsewhere.

Education and clinical training have been severely disrupted in Gaza since October 2023, and students and graduates there should check with their university and the Ministry of Health about current arrangements, documentation and exam access. We do not attempt to describe those arrangements here.

Graduation and licensing connect through the Ministry of Health and, for specialists, the PMC. A new graduate completes an internship year and registers. A doctor who wants specialist recognition then sits the PMC exam for the specialty, and a doctor who wants to work in the Israeli system sits a different exam run by a different authority.

Two systems, two exams

This is the feature that sets Palestine apart from every other page in this group. The two exams serve different purposes, and a candidate often prepares for more than one.

• PMC exams certify specialists. They are computer-based, drawn from a question bank of more than 45,000 items across 52 specialties, according to the PMC in 2019.
• The Israeli Ministry of Health licensing exam is a different, Israeli-run test that Palestinian graduates sit to work in the 1948 areas. An-Najah reported that 58 of 59 graduates passed the version for the 1948 lands in 2019, and 90 of 99 overall. These are university-reported figures and refer to the Israeli-run exam, not a Palestinian one.
• Ministry of Health registration is the route for general practice in the Palestinian health system.

Whether the PMC also runs a separate general licensing exam for new graduates was not confirmed in our research, so ask the Council.

The PMC specialty exams

The Council's electronic exam system draws questions from a central bank. Specialty certification follows residency training programmes recognised by the Council. We could not verify the structure of individual specialty papers, so treat the points below as guidance for finding out.

1. Confirm your residency programme is recognised by the PMC.
2. Ask for the specialty syllabus and the exam regulations.
3. Register for the next sitting through the Council.
4. Sit the computer-based exam at the designated centre.
5. Receive the specialty certificate once you have passed and met the training requirements.

Preparing for the Israeli licensing exam

Candidates who plan to work in the Israeli system should ask the Israeli Ministry of Health for the current exam rules, languages and dates, because we did not verify them. Preparation commonly focuses on internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, psychiatry and public health, and universities report that a structured study period and question practice produce high pass rates. Clinical English or Hebrew medical vocabulary is useful for the clinical workplace even where the exam is offered in more than one language.

Nurses, midwives, pharmacists and dentists

Our data lists licensing exams for these groups: a nursing and midwifery licensing exam run by the Ministry of Health and the Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Council, in MCQ form; a pharmacy licensing exam, which pharmacists have had to pass since the 2010s according to our data; and a dental licensing exam. None of these could be verified. Ask the relevant council or the Ministry of Health for the current exam, its syllabus and its schedule.

Physiotherapists were not covered by a confirmed exam, and registration is by qualification.

Study priorities

The health picture in Palestine combines chronic disease (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease), trauma and injury, communicable disease, maternal and child health, and mental health. Revise emergency and trauma care and disaster medicine, since these are heavily emphasised in clinical work. Practise with timed single-best-answer questions so that the computer-based format feels familiar.

Practical notes for candidates

Palestinian candidates often handle movement restrictions, interrupted semesters and document delays that candidates elsewhere do not. Ask the PMC and the Ministry of Health whether any step can be completed remotely or in a different city, and keep digital copies of every certificate. If you are preparing for more than one exam, use a shared core of internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics and obstetrics, then add exam-specific material in the final weeks.

Exam comparison

Language and recognition

Arabic is the main language of Palestinian practice and of the Palestinian exams, with English used heavily in medical teaching and in textbooks. The Israeli exam has its own language rules, which should be checked directly. Recognition of Palestinian degrees abroad depends on the destination and on the university's listing in the World Directory of Medical Schools. For the Gulf, a Palestinian doctor typically needs Dataflow primary-source verification and a Gulf licensing exam, covered on the UAE and Saudi pages. For the United States, ECFMG certification and USMLE apply.

Last reviewed October 2026