How Thailand's councils license doctors, nurses and pharmacists

Medical and health education in Thailand

Medicine in Thailand is a six-year MD programme taught mainly in Thai at about twenty-five medical schools, including Chulalongkorn, Mahidol, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Prince of Songkla universities. The Medical Council of Thailand (MCT) accredits the medical schools, and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation oversees universities. Dentistry and pharmacy are six-year programmes in most universities, and nursing is a four-year bachelor’s.

Graduation links to licensing through the National License examination (NL), a three-step exam run by the Medical Council, which graduates must pass to be licensed. Many new doctors, especially those on government scholarships, owe a period of service in public hospitals, often three years for rural-doctor scholarship holders, before specialty training. Each profession has its own council, such as the Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Pharmacy Council, with its own licence. Foreign-trained doctors must have their qualification assessed and pass the NL. Confirm current rules with the Medical Council.

A country of councils

The best way to understand Thailand is by its councils. The Medical Council (แพทยสภา), the Nursing and Midwifery Council (สภาการพยาบาล), the Pharmacy Council (สภาเภสัชกรรม), the Dental Council (ทันตแพทยสภา) and the Physical Therapy Council (สภากายภาพบำบัด) are each responsible for registering their own profession. Each decides what exam, if any, stands between a graduate and a licence. There is no national health professions commission that sets one standard for all.

Two features set Thailand apart from its neighbours. First, the doctors' licensing exam is explicitly staged, with two knowledge steps followed by a skills step, so a candidate can be at different stages at the same time. Second, nursing and midwifery are licensed together. A Thai graduate gets a combined first-class licence in "nursing and midwifery", and there is no direct-entry midwife exam. The midwifery content is a subject within the nurse paper.

Who needs a licensing exam in Thailand

Locally trained graduates in each of the six professions covered here sit the council's licensing exam. Foreign-trained applicants, including Thai nationals who trained abroad, are admitted in principle, but with extra conditions. For doctors, foreigners also need to pass a Thai-language test. For nurses, foreign-trained applicants need Thai. If you do not read Thai, plan for a long preparation period and ask the council directly what is required.

Doctors: the National Medical Licensing Examination (NL)

Regulator: Medical Council of Thailand. Exam body: CMA (ศรว.). Format: three steps.

• Step 1: basic medical sciences, multiple choice.
• Step 2: clinical sciences, multiple choice.
• Step 3: clinical skills, with an OSCE and a long case.

In 2024, Steps 1 and 2 were held on 20 and 21 April, and Step 3 OSCE rounds ran at medical schools (one on 31 March 2024, hosted at Thammasat). Dates differ each year, so treat those as an illustration of the pattern: written steps in one block, and skills rounds scheduled separately by site.

The language of the multiple-choice items is reported as largely English, although the directory marks this to verify. The skills step is conducted with Thai patients and examiners, so working Thai is needed. Thai-trained graduates also owe three years of compulsory government service, a requirement unrelated to the exam but important to anyone planning a career.

1. Check your eligibility with the Medical Council. Students at accredited schools are usually registered through the school.
2. Sit Steps 1 and 2. Watch the CMA site for each year's schedule.
3. Sit Step 3 at your allocated site.
4. Apply for the licence. The Medical Council issues it.

Nurses and midwives

The Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council runs one licensing examination for the combined licence. It is a computer-based multiple-choice test across eight subjects, covering both nursing and midwifery. Candidates are Bachelor of Nursing Science graduates, and foreign-trained nurses are also admitted, subject to the Thai-language condition. The council publishes the exam information under its page for registration and licence examination (การสอบขึ้นทะเบียนและรับใบอนุญาต), in Thai.

Because there is no separate midwife path, anyone who wants to practise as a midwife in Thailand prepares for the same paper as nurses.

Pharmacists: PLE-PC and PLE-CC

Thailand's pharmacy programme is a six-year PharmD. The Pharmacy Council of Thailand licenses through a two-part Pharmacy Licensure Examination, run by the PLE Center:

• PLE-PC (core knowledge), a multiple-choice exam.
• PLE-CC (clinical competency), an OSPE or practical skills exam.

The PLE Center and the Council both publish procedures; the Council's registration page is the place to start. Knowing the two-part structure early matters, because the OSPE needs practice with stations and timing, and cannot be crammed.

Dentists

The Dental Council of Thailand runs the National Dental Licensing Examination for Thai and foreign-trained dental graduates. Our research indicates a multiple-choice component and a clinical component, but we could not confirm the format on an opened page. The council's page for new dentists is the right place to check.

Physical therapists

The Physical Therapy Council of Thailand holds a knowledge examination as part of registration and licensing. It is multiple choice, but the details are not published on the council's page we could open, and the homepage content appeared outdated. Ask the council for the current syllabus and schedule.

Planning around the structure

Because each council works independently, two classmates from different professions can face very different timetables. Doctors may spend months between Step 2 and the Step 3 skills rounds, which are scheduled by site. Pharmacists need to plan for two separate parts, written then practical. Nurses face a single computer-based paper but should expect it to cover both nursing and midwifery content. Start by asking your faculty which council notices it follows, then subscribe to that council's announcements.

Comparison

Language and recognition

Thailand has no equivalent of the EU directive and no Gulf-style primary source verification route that replaces its exams. The practical hurdle for foreign graduates is language and the council's own conditions. If you are a Thai national who trained abroad, ask your council about equivalence rules and the Thai-language component. Thailand is part of ASEAN, whose mutual recognition arrangements for medicine, dentistry and nursing give a framework for cooperation but do not waive Thai registration.

Last reviewed October 2026