After Your MBBS in China: Where Can You Practise, and How?

The clinical route: step by step

1. Graduate with your MBBS (around June 2033), with HSK 4 or higher.
2. Complete one extra year of supervised practice. Under the national notice 卫医发〔2001〕248号, a foreign graduate must, after obtaining the degree, complete one uninterrupted year of practice under a licensed physician at an affiliated hospital of the university that awarded the degree. Your Year 6 internship does not count.
   • The graduate applies to their own university using the official form; the university issues an acceptance notice; the graduate obtains an X visa and registers residence with local police within 30 days.
   • Example cost: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine charges RMB 50,000–55,000 for this year (沪交医管〔2019〕7号). Peking University Health Science Center charges RMB 52,000 tuition plus fees, teaches in Chinese, requires an entry assessment and provides no housing.
3. Pass the National Medical Licensing Examination (NMLE) — in Chinese. A practical skills test (around June; pass mark 60/100) is followed by a computer-based written exam. You must pass both.
4. Receive the Physician Qualification Certificate (医师资格证书, the “Red Booklet”) — you are qualified, but not yet licensed.
5. Register to practise (医师执业证书, the “Green Booklet”) through an employing hospital and the provincial health authority, with a work permit.
6. Optional: 3-year standardised residency training (规培) to become a specialist. Places for foreign doctors are limited To confirm by province.

Earliest Red Booklet for a September 2027 starter: late 2034.

Working in China without a medical licence

• An MBBS is a bachelor's degree. For foreign nationals, a standard work permit normally needs a bachelor's degree plus two years of relevant work experience To confirm against the official classification standard.
• The key that opens the door: a Chinese master's degree or above. Under the 2017 joint notice of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Foreign Ministry and the Education Ministry, international students who earn a master's or above from a Chinese university can obtain a work permit within one year of graduating, without work experience — provided their average grade is at least 80/100, the job matches their field, and the salary is at least the local average. Permits are quota-managed; the first permit is one year, renewable up to five years.
• Shanghai exception: bachelor's graduates of Shanghai universities may apply to work in designated zones (e.g. Lingang, Hongqiao business district, the five new towns) To confirm scope for medical employers.

Is my Chinese MBBS eligible?

The GMC checks every overseas primary medical qualification (PMQ) against its criteria before you can book PLAB. Key criteria include:

• Your institution must be listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools with verifiable contact details.
• Your qualification must allow you to register to practise medicine in the country that awarded it, including allowing a postgraduate internship there. (For China, this links to the foreign-graduate practice year and NMLE route — see China.)
• At least three years of study, with clinical placements; the GMC asks your school to confirm clinical clock-hours for each year.

The GMC keeps two lists that include Chinese institutions: qualifications it does not accept (for example, some institutions for graduates from 2024 onwards) and qualifications it may accept only after a full individual assessment. Not being on either list does not mean your qualification is automatically acceptable.

Step by step

1. Before or at graduation: confirm with the GMC that your PMQ is acceptable.
2. Pass IELTS (Academic) or OET (Medicine) at GMC levels.
3. Pass PLAB 1 (written, can be taken abroad).
4. Pass PLAB 2 (clinical OSCE, in the UK).
5. Apply for GMC registration with a licence to practise (internship evidence is required for full registration — confirm how your Year 6 internship is assessed).
6. Apply for jobs (often non-training “trust grade”/clinical fellow posts first) → Health and Care Worker visa → specialty training.

Is my Chinese MBBS eligible?

Your medical school must be listed in WDOMS with an ECFMG Sponsor Note covering your graduation year, and your diploma must carry the exact degree title shown in the ECFMG Reference Guide.

Step by step

1. Pass USMLE Step 1 (pass/fail) and Step 2 CK (scored) — both can be taken at Prometric centres outside the USA.
2. Meet the clinical and communication skills requirement through an ECFMG Pathway, which includes a satisfactory OET Medicine score.
3. Receive ECFMG Certification.
4. Apply for residency through ERAS/NRMP; obtain a J-1 or H-1B visa.
5. Complete residency (3–7 years) → state medical licence.

Step by step

1. During your MBBS (2027–2033): start German; reach B2 general German by graduation. Keep all documents.
2. Check your university is rated H+ in Germany's anabin database (see get2germany university recognition) and choose a federal state.
3. Apply for the Approbation (full licence) to that state's authority — possible from abroad, with certified German translations.
4. Recognition visa (§16d Residence Act) to come to Germany and complete the remaining steps; a hospital job offer helps.
5. Fachsprachprüfung — medical German at C1 level, run by the state medical chamber.
6. Optional: Berufserlaubnis — a temporary licence to work under supervision for up to two years.
7. Kenntnisprüfung — an oral-practical exam at German final-exam level.
8. Approbation → specialist (Facharzt) training of about 5–6 years.

What changed in 2026

Germany's new recognition law makes the direct Kenntnisprüfung the standard route for doctors with non-EU degrees, with document-based equivalence review available only if the applicant chooses it. The Bundestag passed the law on 26 March 2026 and the Bundesrat approved it; it is planned to take effect on 1 November 2026.

Step by step

1. Verify your qualification through EPIC (ECFMG/Intealth).
2. Meet IMC English requirements (all four skills in one sitting).
3. Pass the Pre-Registration Examination System (PRES): PRES 2 (written MCQ) and PRES 3 (clinical). Doctors qualified outside the EU/EEA without a recognised higher qualification or an internship deemed equivalent to the Irish internship may be required to pass the PRES.
4. Apply for registration (General or Supervised division) and a job.

Good news for 2026

The IMC has generally recognised PLAB 1 as equivalent to PRES 2, and in June 2026 consulted on recognising PLAB 2 as an alternative to PRES 3, citing limited PRES 3 availability. If adopted, one set of exams (PLAB) could open both the UK and Ireland. Check the final rule

Step by step

1. Confirm your school is in WDOMS with the sponsor note recognising it for Canada.
2. Create a physiciansapply.ca account and have your degree source-verified.
3. Pass MCCQE Part I and the NAC Examination (NAC is delivered in Canada).
4. Apply through CaRMS for residency, or (for experienced doctors) a provincial Practice-Ready Assessment.

Is my Chinese MBBS eligible?

The AMC follows ECFMG's eligibility rules. Confirm that:

• your medical school is listed in WDOMS with an ECFMG Sponsor Note,
• your graduation year is covered, and
• your degree title matches the ECFMG Reference Guide — the AMC specifically asks graduates of Chinese medical schools to read all degree-title information.

Note: five Chinese schools offering only Traditional Chinese Medicine were removed from WDOMS on 16 August 2024; their graduates became ineligible for AMC assessment from 20 December 2024.

Step by step

1. Check eligibility (above) and open an AMC account; complete primary-source verification.
2. Meet English requirements.
3. Pass the AMC MCQ.
4. Pass the AMC Clinical Examination or complete an accredited workplace-based assessment.
5. Register with Ahpra; secure a supervised position.

Step by step

1. Hold an acceptable primary medical qualification; verify it through EPIC (MyIntealth).
2. Meet MCNZ English requirements (IELTS or OET within two years of the exam).
3. Pass one prerequisite exam within 5 years: USMLE Step 1 + Step 2 CK, AMC MCQ, PLAB, or MCCQE.
4. Pass NZREX Clinical — the average pass rate over the last five years is 66%; a pass is valid for 5 years.
5. Register and begin supervised prevocational training.

Tip: the prerequisite rule means one exam (e.g. USMLE or PLAB) can keep several countries open at once.

Regulators

• UAE — Dubai Health Authority (DHA), DOH Abu Dhabi, MOHAP/EMOH (Prometric)
• Saudi Arabia — SCFHS
• Qatar — DHP, Ministry of Public Health
• Bahrain — NHRA

Common steps

1. Check the Professional Qualification Requirements (PQR) for your title (General Practitioner, specialist, etc.).
2. Primary-source verification through DataFlow.
3. Licensing exam (Prometric or Pearson VUE, depending on the authority).
4. Job offer and employment visa.

What this means: the Gulf is usually a second step — after you are licensed and have worked somewhere else (for example China, Myanmar, the UK or Ireland).

The honest answer

To register, you need a basic medical qualification listed in the Second Schedule of the Medical Registration Act 1997, plus a job offer from an SMC-approved institution.

For Chinese medical schools on the list, the SMC recognises only the direct 7-year Master of Medicine and the 8-year Doctor of Medicine — not the MBBS. Graduates of listed schools must also pass the national licensing exams of the listed country.

A Chinese MBBS does not lead to registration in Singapore. A route may open later through a registrable postgraduate qualification on SMC's list.

Good news: some Chinese MBBS programmes are on the list

The MCHK's list of recognised medical qualifications for Special Registration (as at 18 June 2026) includes several 6-year MBBS programmes from Chinese universities, including:

• Fudan University — MBBS (6-year)
• Huazhong University of Science and Technology — MBBS (6-year)
• Sun Yat-sen University — MBBS (6-year)
• Wuhan University — MBBS (6-year)
• Sichuan University — 6-year Programme in Medicine and Surgery

The routes

1. Special Registration: work full-time in a public healthcare institution (Hospital Authority, Department of Health, HKU or CUHK). For non-permanent residents, a specialist qualification recognised by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine is required. After five years of service, doctors can move to full registration.
2. Licensing Examination of the MCHK, followed by internship, for full registration.

To apply for registration (form BMB 1), doctors must provide, among other documents: proof of post-housemanship/internship clinical experience, a certificate of registration with their current medical licensing authority, a recent good standing letter, and verification of their degree. An employment offer is part of the process.

Brunei is a “later” destination — it expects you to be licensed and experienced elsewhere first.

• Your qualification must come from a medical school recognised by the MMDC; the current list includes nine Chinese institutions. Only the programme and campus that existed when the school was added are recognised.
• Graduates of recognised schools must also pass the national licensing examination To confirm: we read this as the licensing exam of the country of graduation.
• All medical officers must also pass the MMDC licensing exam.

Regional exam: Caribbean Association of Medical Councils (CAMC)

• A one-year medical internship is required for full registration.
• Foreign graduates qualify for internship by passing recognised exams: CAMC Parts 1 & 2, USMLE, or PLAB.
• Reality: in September 2025 Jamaica's Chief Medical Officer reported about 500 internship applications, ~70% from foreign graduates, and described the programme as oversaturated; China-trained doctors were among those affected.

Italy

The Ministry of Health recognises non-EU medical titles. Its document list asks for the specific licensing title where the country of graduation requires one, and the Italian consulate's dichiarazione di valore must confirm the degree allows practice in that country. For China, this likely means the NMLE “Red Booklet” To confirm with the Ministry. Compensatory measures (aptitude test in Italian, or adaptation placement up to 3 years) may apply; the Ordine dei Medici checks Italian. Italy's temporary exemption for non-EU doctors ends 31 December 2027.

Hungary

Non-EU applicants must provide a Hungarian residence permit (work or family) to apply for recognition — recognition for further study is the exception. The basic medical diploma is recognised by the Educational Authority; extra exams may be set. Hungarian is needed for patient care.

Want Europe? Study in Europe. An EU medical degree carries automatic recognition across the EU. For Italy, English-taught medicine is entered through the IMAT exam.