Supplementary exam for foreign doctors/dentists in Slovakia (28.05.2024)

Personal experience of a doctor who passed the exam at the first attempt:
✔ how long the whole exam (written and oral part) lasts and how it goes, in general,
✔ how many questions are in the written part, which topics, which questions are the most difficult,
✔ how the oral part of the exam is conducted,
✔ how to prepare for the exam in order to pass it on the first try.

Approximately a month before the exam (the minimum application submission period for taking the supplementary exam is 30 days), I submitted all the necessary documents.

The application for the supplementary exam must include:

• The applicant's first and last name.
• The address of the applicant's permanent residence or an equivalent place of residence.
• The name of the regulated profession in the Slovak Republic for which the recognition of professional qualifications is being sought and for which the supplementary exam will be conducted.

The following documents must be attached to the application:

• A copy of the educational document with a translation into the official language of the Slovak Republic.
• A copy of the decision from the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic recognizing the educational document (a decision issued by the authority of the Czech Republic or another state is not accepted) — Diploma Nostrification.
• Proof of payment for services related to the supplementary exam — Examination fee.

On the day of the exam, there were about 110 of us, and we were divided into two groups: 44 people were taking the exam for medical doctors, and 67 were for dentists. We all gathered in a large assembly hall where we were given the test assignments.

How long is the exam?
The exam started around 8.00 am.
The written part lasted approximately 1-2 hours. This time was given to answer all 100 questions.

How many questions were in the written part?
There were 100 questions in the written part of the exam. 20 of them were related to the legal framework of health care in Slovakia, and the remaining 80 were on medical topics in thematic sections:

• general medicine,
• gynecology,
• surgery,
• pediatrics.

How the oral part of the exam is conducted:
After completing the written exam, we were divided into groups of 20 people for the oral part. In the examination room, there were 5 people present at a time. Each person would answer their question and then leave the room so that the next person on the list could join the exam.

Overall, the exam did not seem very difficult to me, except for some questions that I don't recall even covering during my time in medical school.

Additionally, a particular discomfort was caused by the fact that the exam took place in the presence of other students (colleagues), rather than being one-on-one with the examination panel.

How to prepare for the exam to pass on the first attempt:
I started my preparation around February 2023 at iCan School.
There, I completed phases 2 and 3 of the preparation process.
I recommend beginning your preparation well in advance and focusing on understanding all the key concepts and classifications.

Advice for medical professionals preparing for the supplementary exam (Doplňujúca Skúška) in Slovakia:
My advice is to thoroughly study the entire exam material, at least the essential topics and classifications. It might be helpful to review some of these initially in your native language to better understand the concepts before diving into the Slovak language material.