Medical Registration in Malaysia and Hong Kong 2026

Who decides whether a foreign-trained doctor may practise in Malaysia or Hong Kong?

Two statutory bodies decide, and neither delegates. In Malaysia it is the Malaysian Medical Council under the Medical Act 1971, which holds the register and issues provisional, full, specialist and temporary registration. In Hong Kong it is the Medical Council of Hong Kong under the Medical Registration Ordinance, which runs the Licensing Examination and the general register.

Both start from the same question: is your basic medical qualification already on our list? Malaysia's list is the Second Schedule, which in 2026 covers qualifications awarded in 34 countries, from Australia and Ireland to Indonesia, Poland, Russia and the West Indies. Hong Kong's equivalent for special registration is Schedule 1A, which reached 166 recognised qualifications when the seventh batch was gazetted on 18 June 2026.

A degree on the list shortens the route. A degree off the list does not close it.

How do I find out whether my degree is on the Malaysian Second Schedule?

The Council publishes the Second Schedule list on its own site, by country then by awarding institution, with the date each qualification was recognised. Check the exact award title and institution name: recognition attaches to a named degree from a named school, not to a country. Dates matter too — a qualification recognised in 2018 does not automatically cover a degree conferred in 2012.

Whatever the answer, primary source verification is compulsory for every foreign medical graduate, through either the ECFMG EPIC service or DataFlow, and the verified degree and transcript must reach the Council before the application is assessed. Start this early. Verification depends on how fast your awarding university answers.

Everything runs through MeRITS, the Council's online system, and approved certificates are self-printed from the portal.

What is the Examination for Provisional Registration and what does it cost in 2026?

The Examination for Provisional Registration, still widely called the Medical Qualifying Examination, is the route for graduates whose degree is not in the Second Schedule. It has two stages. The theory stage is two papers of 60 questions each, one medical and one surgical, delivered online through the Examplify platform with a pass mark of 50 per cent; sittings usually open in March and September. The clinical stage is an OSCE with manned and unmanned stations, held at a designated Malaysian medical school roughly three months after the theory pass.

Fees in 2026 are RM1,000 to process the application, RM3,000 for each theory attempt and RM3,000 for each clinical attempt, the clinical fee collected by the conducting institution. Clear both first time and you have paid RM7,000 before any registration fee falls due.

One eligibility rule catches people out. Non-citizens may sit the examination only in defined circumstances: postgraduate study in Malaysia, or housemanship and employment held as a permanent resident or as the spouse of a Malaysian citizen.

What does the Hong Kong Licensing Examination actually test?

Three parts, sat in order. Part I is professional knowledge: two papers, each with 120 multiple-choice questions, covering basic sciences, medical ethics and community medicine, medicine, surgery, orthopaedic surgery, psychiatry, paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology. Part II is a written test of medical English. Part III is the clinical examination, taken in medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology and paediatrics.

Admission requires an acceptable medical qualification, at least five years of full-time medical training approved by the Council including an approved internship, and evidence of good character. Graduates of the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong are exempt from the examination entirely.

The Council publishes results by part. In 2021 the two Part I sittings passed 39.6 per cent and 37.0 per cent of candidates, Part III passed 50.0 per cent, and 34 candidates completed the whole examination that year, against 53 in 2019 and none in 2020 when sittings were cancelled. Part II is the gentlest: pass rates ran between 67.9 and 100 per cent across the 2017 to 2021 sittings.

When are the 2026 Hong Kong sittings, and how do I apply?

Two sittings a year, with the application window closing months ahead. For the first 2026 sitting, applications ran 2 to 31 October 2025, Parts I and II were held 2 to 4 March 2026, and Part III fell in late May and early June. For the second, applications ran 1 to 30 April 2026, Parts I and II were held 31 August to 2 September, and Part III falls in late November and early December 2026.

Applications go by registered post or hand delivery; fax and email are not accepted. The pack includes Form 1A or 1B in original, the qualification certificate with notarised copies, transcripts, the internship certificate, identity documents, a curriculum vitae and an original certificate of good standing.

Missing one window costs six months.

How does Hong Kong's special registration route stand in 2026?

The Medical Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 2021, gazetted on 29 October 2021, created a second door. A non-locally trained doctor holding a qualification on the Council's recognised list may take special registration and work at the Hospital Authority, the Department of Health, the University of Hong Kong or the Chinese University of Hong Kong without sitting the Licensing Examination. The Special Registration Committee was appointed on 12 November 2021.

Full registration then follows service rather than an examination. The doctor must obtain a specialist qualification recognised by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, or complete specialist training in Hong Kong under the Academy, then serve at least five years in a public healthcare institution after obtaining it, under continuous on-the-job assessment.

The route is being used. As of May 2026 there were 161 practitioners in Hong Kong under special registration, and the recognised list stood at 166 entries after the seventh batch was gazetted on 18 June 2026 and laid before the Legislative Council on 24 June 2026. Across 2022-23 and 2023-24 the Council received 273 applications for special and limited registration combined and approved 271, the United Kingdom the largest single source at 44.

How do the two jurisdictions compare step by step?

Malaysia front-loads the examination and back-loads the supervised year. Hong Kong front-loads a long eligibility screen, then holds a fixed twelve-month assessment period that starts on a calendar date rather than on an appointment.

Read the last two rows first. They are where timing is lost.

What does housemanship and compulsory service involve in Malaysia?

Section 13 of the Medical Act 1971 sets a statutory minimum of one year in a resident medical capacity: four months surgical, four months medical, four months obstetrics and gynaecology. The Ministry of Health's programme runs longer — six postings across five major departments, medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics and orthopaedics, plus one from anaesthesiology, emergency medicine, psychiatry or primary care. Six postings of four months is two years.

Malaysian citizens then owe a further two years of compulsory service to the Ministry of Health. That obligation attaches to citizenship, not to the degree.

Placement capacity in 2026 is not the constraint people assume. The Ministry offered 5,000 housemanship slots for the January 2026 intake and 529 graduates reported for duty. Intake had peaked at 6,139 in 2019, fell to about 3,245 in 2022 and held near that level through 2025, at 3,265, 3,288 and 3,294. The waiting lists of a decade ago are not the 2026 picture.

What happens after you pass the Hong Kong Licensing Examination?

Passing all three parts does not give full registration. It gives access to a twelve-month period of assessment, served as an intern in hospitals approved by the Council. Full registration follows its successful completion.

The start date is fixed, and this is the detail worth planning around. The assessment period begins on the 1 January or the 1 July immediately after a candidate passes. Pass Part III in early June and you start on 1 July. Pass in early December and you start on 1 January.

Registration itself cost HK$1,270 in 2026, with HK$405 for the first practising certificate, both payable on the Council's prescribed forms. The certificate must be held before 30 June each year to stay on the general register.

What does the whole process cost, start to finish?

Two cases, itemised. Dr A holds a degree not listed in the Second Schedule and registers in Malaysia; Dr B holds a degree that is not exempt in Hong Kong and takes the Licensing Examination. Both clear every stage first time.

Neither total covers flights, notarisation, translation, the certificate of good standing, or living costs during the supervised year. Both supervised years are paid: the Hong Kong assessment period is employment, and Malaysian housemanship is a salaried Ministry of Health post.

What does a realistic year look like, month by month?

The sequence below assumes a doctor starting from a standing start in January 2026 and aiming at the Hong Kong second sitting, with the Malaysian equivalents alongside. Dates are the published ones; the personal work fills the gaps.

• January 2026 — Order the certificate of good standing. Open the ECFMG EPIC or DataFlow file if Malaysia is the target.
• February 2026 — Notarise degree, transcript and internship certificate. Check the Second Schedule or Schedule 1A entry against the wording on your parchment.
• March 2026 — Malaysian theory sittings open. Hong Kong Parts I and II were sat on 2 to 4 March 2026.
• April 2026 — The Hong Kong window for the second sitting runs 1 to 30 April. Submit by registered post; keep the receipt.
• May and June 2026 — Hong Kong Part III runs late May into early June. Malaysian candidates who passed theory in March sit the OSCE around now.
• July 2026 — Hong Kong assessment periods start. In Malaysia, provisional registration goes through MeRITS once verification lands.
• August and September 2026 — Hong Kong Parts I and II were held 31 August to 2 September. Malaysian September sittings open.
• October 2026 — The window for the first 2027 Hong Kong sitting opens, mirroring 2 to 31 October 2025.
• November and December 2026 — Hong Kong Part III runs late November into early December. Malaysian doctors file the Annual Practising Certificate before 31 December.

Two dates carry the plan: the Hong Kong application window and the Malaysian certificate deadline. In January 2026 the Malaysian Medical Council apologised for delays in issuing 2026 Annual Practising Certificates after a surge of applications at the end of 2025, and let affected doctors keep practising while approval was pending. File early.

Which residence and employment permit do you need in each place?

Registration and immigration are separate approvals from separate authorities on separate timetables. A doctor can hold registration and no right to work, or a visa and no registration. Both are needed before a first shift.

Hong Kong runs the General Employment Policy for professionals. The applicant needs a genuine job offer that cannot readily be filled locally, normally a first degree in the relevant field, market-level remuneration and a clean record. The Immigration Department normally decides an initial application in about four weeks once documents are complete, and extensions in two to three weeks. The first permission runs 36 months on employment conditions, or the contract length if shorter, then follows a three-then-two-year pattern; professionals earning at least HK$2 million in the previous tax year may get five years without employment conditions. Spouses and unmarried children under 18 come as dependants. Seven continuous years of residence opens the right of abode.

Malaysia works through the Employment Pass, sponsored by the employing hospital or university via the Expatriate Services Division. It is tied to a named employer and post, so a change of hospital means a new application, not a transfer. In 2026 the categories still turn on monthly salary and contract length, set by the Immigration Department rather than the Malaysian Medical Council; confirm the current threshold with the sponsoring employer, because the categories have been revised more than once. Doctors entering housemanship are usually permanent residents or spouses of Malaysian citizens, which changes the question entirely.

Order matters. In Hong Kong the job offer comes first, then the visa, with registration paperwork running in parallel. In Malaysia the registration decision and the Employment Pass application run alongside each other, and a delay in one stalls the other. Medschool Experts advises four to six weeks of slack on whichever leg is not yet approved.

What most guides on this topic leave out

The unanswered question is not about examinations. It is about who may do the supervised year at all.

In Malaysia, housemanship is a Ministry of Health appointment, and non-citizens sit largely outside that system. The Examination for Provisional Registration itself restricts non-citizen candidates to defined situations: postgraduate study in Malaysia, or housemanship and employment held as a permanent resident or spouse of a Malaysian citizen. Monash University Malaysia states plainly that international students are not currently able to do housemanship there. Treat Malaysia as a route that runs through residence status first, examination second.

Hong Kong reverses this. Special registration under the 2021 amendment ordinance is open to non-permanent residents holding a recognised specialist qualification, and the Licensing Examination route carries no residence precondition. Five years of post-specialist service is long, but it is a service requirement, not a nationality one.

That single difference reorders the decision for most internationally trained doctors. Check your own residence position against both systems before paying a single examination fee. See what Medschool Experts does, browse the universities we work with, or take the question to a free consultation.