Overview
The entrance exam to the third cycle of medical studies (the résidanat) is the national exam that decides who enters specialist training in medicine in Tunisia. The third cycle trains doctors in medical specialities through hospital placements and structured teaching from the medical faculties and the specialty colleges. This page is based on the study regulations published by the Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, which cite Government Decree no. 2019-341 of 10 April 2019. The ministries' own pages could not be reached when this page was reviewed, so confirm the current exam rules, programme and calendar with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Ministry of Health.
Who can apply
According to the faculty's summary of the regulations, the following can sit the entrance exam:
Students of Tunisian medical faculties who passed the third year of the second cycle and have not yet entered the third cycle.
Students who entered the third cycle and resigned. Resignation is granted once, at the end of the first semester of the first year, once that semester's placements are validated. They can sit the next exam after the resignation is accepted. A resignation after the first semester is possible only for a medically proven disability, after review by a national commission.
Doctors holding the doctorate in medicine, and specialist doctors under the earlier decrees.
Doctors who obtained the family-medicine habilitation certificate, and Tunisian specialists who obtained their specialisation diploma.
Tunisians and foreigners holding a foreign doctorate in medicine that allows practice in the awarding country and is validated under Tunisian rules.
Public health doctors under the conditions of article 24 of the 2019 decree.
To enter the third cycle you must pass the entrance exam after obtaining the diploma marking the end of clinical studies (for Tunisian faculty students) or a validated foreign doctorate in medicine.
Exam pattern
The faculty page does not describe the exam format, subjects or number of questions, so none are given here. Check the official exam notice for the current year.
After the exam
Successful candidates enter the third cycle, whose curriculum is set by a joint order of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Minister of Health, after the opinion of the specialty colleges and the national bureau of medical specialities.
Medical studies before the exam
The path before the exam is a first cycle of two years, then a second cycle of four years, of which the fourth year is an internship year made of four three-month placements (medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics), ending with a practical exam. Passing the second cycle gives the diploma marking the end of clinical studies, which opens access to the entrance exam.
FAQs
Can I resign from specialist training and sit the exam again?
Yes, once. Resignation is normally granted at the end of the first semester of the first year, provided that semester's placements are validated.
Can foreign-trained doctors apply?
The faculty summary lists holders of a validated foreign doctorate in medicine, both Tunisian and foreign, among those allowed to sit the entrance exam.