Practising in Russia: how primary accreditation replaced the licence

Medical and health education in Russia

Medicine in Russia is a six-year specialist programme (specialitet) in general medicine, taught at around fifty medical universities and faculties, many under the Ministry of Health. State accreditation of programmes is run by the federal education supervisory service, Rosobrnadzor. Dentistry and pharmacy take five years, and nursing is taught at colleges and, increasingly, universities. International students often begin with a preparatory year of language, so the full path can reach seven years.

Graduation does not give the right to practise by itself. Since 2016 graduates pass primary accreditation of specialists, a three-stage assessment with a test, practical skills stations and situational cases, before they can work independently, and repeat accreditation is required every five years. Residency (ordinatura) of two to five years then follows for a specialty. English-medium programmes at universities such as Sechenov, Pirogov, Kazan, Volgograd and RUDN attract many Indian, Pakistani, Nepali, Sri Lankan and African students, although hospital training relies on working Russian. Foreign graduates generally do not receive Russian accreditation on that basis and instead sit their home exam: the FMGE in India (its planned successor NExT has been deferred), the NRE in Pakistan, the MDCN assessment in Nigeria. Confirm recognition of the programme with your home regulator.

What makes Russia different: accreditation is a cycle, not a one-off

In most countries a licensing exam is a hurdle you clear once. In Russia the word is accreditation, and it recurs. Graduates enter the register through primary accreditation; they renew through periodic accreditation, and specialists who finish residency (ordinatura) complete a separate primary specialised accreditation. The system has been in place since the mid-2010s, and the current procedure is Order 709n, applying from 1 January 2023.

A second distinctive point is transparency. The Methodological Centre publishes a test bank, and each specialty has an official mock exam, so candidates can see the style before sitting. That is unusual in the region and it changes how you should study: you are not guessing what the exam is like, you are rehearsing it.

Who needs accreditation

• Russian graduates of specialist programmes: primary accreditation is required to practise.
• Ordinatura (residency) graduates: primary specialised accreditation.
• Foreign-educated clinicians, including Russian and CIS nationals who trained abroad: document recognition, a preliminary stage, then the standard stages. The record notes this applies equally to pharmacists, dentists and nurses.

Doctors

Exam. Primary accreditation in General Medicine (Лечебное дело) or Paediatrics (Педиатрия). Three parts: an 80-question computer test in 60 minutes, with a pass mark above 70 per cent; practical skills stations of roughly 8.5 minutes each; and two or three situational cases.

Foreign-educated doctors. The preliminary stage is also an 80-item test in 60 minutes, in three blocks: single best answer, multiple-answer, and situational judgement. The pass mark is 70 per cent. After that the applicant follows the standard stages. Document checks sit with Roszdravnadzor under Order 10335, applying from 2023.

1. Recognise the diploma. Foreign graduates submit documents to Roszdravnadzor.
2. Pass the preliminary stage. Foreign-educated applicants only.
3. Test stage. Computer-based 80 questions; 70 per cent to pass.
4. Practical skills. OSCE stations in a simulation centre.
5. Situational cases. Written or oral problem-solving, per the specialty.

Nurses and midwives

Nurses (Сестринское дело) and midwives (Акушерское дело) are accredited at mid-level, usually after a medical college (SPO) or a nursing bachelor's. The format is a multiple-choice test followed by practical skills in simulation. The test bank is published on fmza.ru. Nursing is listed on the centre's page; midwifery is an SPO specialty under the same framework, but we could not confirm the specialty page, so check it before you plan. Russian only.

Pharmacists

Primary accreditation in Pharmacy (Фармация) uses the same 80-item, 60-minute test with a pass mark above 70 per cent, plus practical stations and situational cases. Foreign-trained pharmacists go through Roszdravnadzor recognition (tightened from 2023) and the preliminary stage.

Dentists

Dentistry (Стоматология) follows the same structure: 80-item test, OSCE stations and cases. Foreign-trained dentists go through the preliminary stage. One change to watch: the record notes that from 1 September 2026 "general practice dentistry" is no longer accredited as before, as specialised dentistry accreditation is restructured. Confirm the current specialty list before enrolling in a course.

Physiotherapy and rehabilitation

Russia does not have a separate physiotherapist profession like the UK or Australia. Rehabilitation is a physician specialty (Физическая и реабилитационная медицина) reached through ordinatura, alongside mid-level roles such as exercise-therapy instructors (LFK) and rehabilitation nurses accredited through SPO or bachelor routes. This is cautious: confirm the exact specialty list on fmza.ru for your route.

Comparison

Using the public test bank and mock exam

Because fmza.ru publishes test tasks per specialty and links to an official self-test, the sensible order of work is different from a country with secret papers. Start with the official mock to find your baseline. Then work through the published tasks by topic and note where your errors cluster. Only after that is it worth adding third-party questions, and those should be written to the same blueprint rather than copied from the public bank.

Two habits matter. First, read the stem for the instruction word: the three blocks of the foreign-education test mix single-best, multiple-answer and situational judgement items, and a multiple-answer item scored as if it were single-best loses marks. Second, practise Russian clinical terminology aloud, because the OSCE stations are timed at roughly 8.5 minutes and there is no time to translate in your head.

What the practical stations test

The skills stage takes place in a simulation centre. Candidates move between stations, each with a set task such as examining a patient, performing a procedure on a manikin, or communicating a result. A checklist of observable actions is used for marking, so the safest approach is to say what you are doing and why. Situational cases follow: a clinical vignette with questions on diagnosis, investigation and management, scored against the specialty standard.

A realistic timeline for a foreign-educated applicant

Document recognition comes first and can take a long time, so start it before anything else. While the file is with Roszdravnadzor, prepare for the preliminary test and the standard stages. Do not book travel or a course start date until you hold a decision on recognition. If you are Russian by nationality and trained abroad, you are treated the same way as any other foreign-educated applicant.

Language and recognition

Everything is conducted in Russian. There is no English paper and no interpreter route in the sources we hold. A foreign-trained clinician from Central Asia may find the language easy; a clinician from the Gulf or South Asia will need to plan for medical Russian, which is a different register from conversational Russian.

No bilateral or EU-directive recognition is recorded for this country. For diploma recognition, the working authority is Roszdravnadzor, and the practice has become stricter since 2023.

Last reviewed October 2026