Azmoon-e Dastyari (Iran Residency Exam)

Overview

Azmoon-e Dastyari (آزمون دستیاری, "residency exam") is Iran's national entrance exam for specialty training. It is run by the Medical Education Assessment Center (مرکز سنجش آموزش پزشکی) under the education deputy of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. There are separate exams for medicine and dentistry:

• the medical residency exam, for places in clinical medical specialties;

• the dental residency exam, for places in dental specialties.

The exam is still held every year. The Medical Education Assessment Center's own site (sanjeshp.ir) could not be reached when this page was checked, so the facts below come from news reports of its notices and from a medical university's announcement.

Iranian sources use the Solar Hijri calendar. Dates below are converted to Gregorian; for example, Iranian year 1405 runs from March 2026 to March 2027.

Who can apply

• Medical exam: doctors seeking a residency place in a clinical specialty.

• Dental exam (2026 round): holders of a DDS degree, or final-year dental students who will graduate by 30 Mehr 1405 (22 October 2026). Applicants must also meet national military service rules and submit the required documents.

Exam pattern

In the medical exam, marking more than one option for a question also counts as a wrong answer (-1).

Marking and results

In the 2026 medical exam, candidates who scored at least 150 out of 600 were allowed to choose specialties. Places are then allocated mainly by weighted exam score, and then by the candidate's preferred specialties and universities, within the quotas for each place.

Important dates

Medical residency exam, 53rd round (2026):

• Main registration: Dey and Bahman 1404 (late December 2025 to February 2026). A make-up registration window ran from 9 to 12 Esfand 1404 (28 February to 3 March 2026).

• The exam was first set for 10 Ordibehesht 1405 (30 April 2026). It was postponed because of the conflict that disrupted national exams that spring.

• Exam held: Thursday 1 Mordad 1405 (23 July 2026), with 17,277 registered candidates.

• Score cards: 24 Mordad 1405 (15 August 2026).

• Choice of specialty: 15 to 22 Shahrivar 1405 (6 to 13 September 2026).

• Final results: expected in the second ten days of Mehr 1405 (early to mid-October 2026), with training starting in early Aban 1405 (late October to early November 2026).

Dental residency exam, 40th round (2026): Thursday 19 Shahrivar 1405 (10 September 2026) at 9:00 a.m.

Fees

For the 2026 dental residency exam, the registration fee was 7,800,000 rials (780,000 tomans), plus an SMS charge of 200,000 rials. Fees are not refundable.

For the 2026 medical exam, late registrants paid an extra 7,600,000 rials.

How to apply

1. Watch for the registration notice from the Medical Education Assessment Center.

2. Register and pay online on sanjeshp.ir during the registration window.

3. Print your admission card. On exam day, bring it with your original national ID card or birth certificate.

4. If your score reaches the minimum, fill in the online choice form with your preferred specialties and universities.

Preparation tips

• Practise under the negative marking: a wrong answer costs a third of a correct answer's value, so guessing when you are unsure lowers your expected score.

• Plan for a long paper: 200 questions in the medical exam, 250 in the dental exam.

• Check the official notices for each round. Dates moved several times in 2026.