Foreign-trained doctors: sit the KMPDC exams or get temporary registration
Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council · sources read 2 Oct 2026
If you trained outside East Africa, you must pass KMPDC's exams first: the Internship Qualifying Exam (KSh 35,000) if you still need an internship, or the pre-registration exam (KSh 55,000) after internship. Foreign nationals then apply for temporary registration (KSh 200,000) with a job offer from a Kenyan facility.
- Fee
- KSh 35,000Internship Qualifying ExaminationKSh 55,000Pre-registration examinationKSh 200,000Temporary registration (foreign practitioner)
- How long
- Exam results usually come out within 2 weeks
- Where
- By email to KMPDC (training@kmpdc.go.ke and reg.lic@kmpdc.go.ke); exams at KMPDC, Woodlands Road off Lenana Road, Nairobi
What you need
- Degree certificate and transcripts certified by your university (with an official English translation if needed)
- Certification of your qualification from the Commission for University Education (CUE)
- High school certificate equated by the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA)
- Proof of English proficiency (TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge English or KCSE)
- For temporary registration: a certificate of status issued in the last 6 months and a detailed job offer from a registered Kenyan health institution
Steps
- No internship yet? Fill the Internship Qualifying Exam form and email it to training@kmpdc.go.ke, copying reg.lic@kmpdc.go.ke.
- Pay the exam fee on the eCitizen invoice and book a sitting: April/May or October/November.
- If you pass the IQE, you join internship balloting and, once the Ministry of Health posts you, get an internship licence.
- After internship, sit the pre-registration exam (written and clinical). Pass it, then apply for registration.
- Not a Kenyan or EAC citizen? Once KMPDC is satisfied, fill the temporary registration form and email it to reg.lic@kmpdc.go.ke.
Watch out
- You get only three attempts, and you must score at least 50% in the clinical part to pass.
- To cancel, write at least a month before the exam to carry 75% of the fee forward. Cancel later and you lose the whole fee.
- Foreign doctors on temporary registration can only work as employees at the facility named on their licence, not open their own.
Who can apply
- Doctors and dentists trained abroad with a qualification equal to an MBChB or BDS from the University of Nairobi.
- Graduates of approved schools in East African Community states don't sit these exams; they use reciprocal recognition instead.
Official sources (5)
- Foreign trained doctors kmpdc.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- Form VII: Application for Internship Qualifying Examination (2026) kmpdc.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- Form VIII: Application for Pre-registration Examination (2026) kmpdc.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- Form V: Application for Temporary Registration as a Foreign Medical or Dental Practitioner (2024) kmpdc.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- FAQs on Council exams (IQE and pre-registration) kmpdc.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026