Uzbekistan's health workforce rules: attestation, reform and a fast-growing student hub

Medical and health education in Uzbekistan

Medicine in Uzbekistan is a six-year degree taught at Tashkent Medical Academy, Samarkand State Medical University, Bukhara State Medical Institute and other state institutes, in Uzbek and Russian. In recent years English-medium programmes have grown fast, attracting students from India, Pakistan, Nepal and other countries, and several foreign universities have opened branches. The Ministry of Health regulates clinical education and practice, and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation licenses and accredits institutions.

After the degree, doctors traditionally complete an internship and may continue to residency. The Ministry of Health runs periodic attestation of medical and pharmaceutical workers. We could not verify a national licensing exam; the state final assessment at the university is the exam most students sit, and reforms toward independent assessment have been reported but not confirmed. International graduates take the licensing exam of their home country: the FMGE in India (its planned successor NExT has been deferred), the NRE in Pakistan, or the council exams in Nepal and Nigeria. Confirm that the university is recognised by your home regulator and check hospital exposure, which relies on Uzbek or Russian.

A system in motion

Uzbekistan is not a country with a settled, documented licensing exam, and it would be wrong to pretend otherwise. What is visible is a government that has made medical education a priority, expanded programmes for international students, and published procedures for attesting working staff and for recognising foreign degrees. Reports of independent-assessment reforms exist, and we could not verify them against a Ministry document.

That makes the useful guidance procedural. Know the three layers that exist, ask for the current text of each, and never rely on a social media post for an exam date.

The three layers

• University state assessment: sets the end-of-degree standard. Format is set by the university and the education authorities.
• Attestation of medical and pharmaceutical workers: a Ministry of Health procedure for staff already in post.
• Recognition of foreign degrees: a government-approved procedure for academic recognition, separate from professional registration.

Doctors

Regulator. The Ministry of Health. Its website carries the attestation procedure for medical and pharmaceutical workers.

Exam. We did not verify a national licensing exam. Doctors complete the degree, postgraduate training and attestation. National attestation and independent-assessment reforms were reported; the details were not confirmed.

International students. Large English-medium cohorts study in Samarkand, Tashkent and Bukhara. Those students sit university assessments and, in most cases, plan to take the licensing exam of their home country.

1. Read the Ministry's attestation page to see who is covered and how often.
2. Ask your faculty for the format of the state final assessment.
3. Check your home regulator's list of accepted universities and course requirements.
4. Keep your course records in a form a foreign regulator can use.
5. Re-check each year. Reform can change the rules between intakes.

Nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dentists and physiotherapists

No licensing exam was identified for any of these professions. The attestation procedure is described as covering medical and pharmaceutical workers, but we did not confirm which professions it names or how it works for each. If you are a nurse or physiotherapist with a foreign diploma, ask the Ministry of Health whether an assessment applies and in what language.

At a glance

Reading the attestation page

The Ministry's page on attestation is the one primary document we can point to. When you read it, extract the following and record the date on which you read it: who is covered (doctors, mid-level staff, pharmacists), how often attestation is repeated, what the assessment consists of (documents, a test, an interview, or a mix), who sits on the commission, and what follows a failure. If the page refers to a regulation by number, find the regulation itself. Pages that summarise a rule are easier to change than the rule.

Attestation is for people who already work in the system. It is not the same as an entry exam, and it should not be confused with the final state assessment at the end of a degree. Many foreign-language summaries online blur the three, which is how wrong exam dates spread.

How to treat reports of reform

Reports of independent-assessment reform in Uzbekistan are plausible, given the pace of change in medical education. Until you see a decree or Ministry notice, treat them as possible, not settled. A simple test: can you find the document number, the date, and the body that issued it? If not, do not budget money or time around it.

If a national exam is introduced, expect the usual pattern in the region: Uzbek and Russian first, a published specification for each specialty, and a transitional period for current students. Whether English will be offered is the open question for the international cohorts, and the one to put to the Ministry.

What a prep provider can and cannot say today

We do not claim an Uzbek licensing exam and we do not sell preparation for one. What we can say is that students in Uzbekistan benefit from a structured, exam-style revision habit whatever their final target is. If you are in Samarkand, Tashkent or Bukhara and aiming at a home-country licensing exam, our practice material for that exam is the relevant product, and the waitlist link below will tell you when it opens.

Keep this in proportion: a student who attends a good programme and keeps records of the course will be in a strong position under any version of the rules.

If you are choosing a university in Uzbekistan

Treat the choice as a decision about your destination, not about Uzbekistan. For a student heading to India, Pakistan, the Gulf or the UK, the home regulator decides what counts. Some set rules about the length of the course, the language of instruction, the presence of clinical training in the same country, and listing in the World Directory of Medical Schools. Check these on the regulator's own site, not through an agent.

Then ask the university for evidence: the number of clinical hours, the hospitals used for teaching, whether lectures and clinical rotations run in English, and what proportion of last year's graduates went on to pass their home exam. A university that cannot or will not answer is giving you information too.

Language and recognition

Uzbek is the state language; Russian is widely used in professional settings. English-medium degrees exist for international students but clinical work with patients is in Uzbek or Russian. A procedure to recognise foreign academic degrees has been approved by the government; professional recognition, which decides whether you may practise, rests with the Ministry of Health. No EU-directive route applies.

Last reviewed October 2026