Diplomate Specialization and Examination Regulations

These following regulations are hereby enacted pursuant to Article 7-1, Paragraph 3 of the Physicians Act (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”).

A physician may receive specialist training only after completing postgraduate general clin-ical medical training (Post-Graduate Year Training, abbreviated as PGY and hereinafter re-ferred to as “PGY Training”) and obtaining a certificate of completion. However, the fol-lowing provisions shall apply under the respective circumstances specified below:1. A physician who, after the amendments to these Regulations took effect on June 11, 2010, completed the PGY Training prescribed in the PGY Training program announced at that time by the central competent authority shall be exempt from Articles 3 and 4.2. A current-year graduate of a baccalaureate Chinese medicine program with a double major in medicine shall undertake PGY Training in accordance with Article 6.

The duration of PGY Training for physicians who graduated from domestic universities shall be as follows:1. Graduates of a domestic seven-year baccalaureate medical program, a five-year postbaccalaureate medical program, or an eight-year baccalaureate Chinese medicine program with a double major in medicine: 1 year2. Graduates of a domestic six-year baccalaureate medical program, a four-year post-baccalaureate medical program, or a seven-year baccalaureate Chinese medicine program with a double major in medicine: 2 years

The duration of PGY Training for physicians who graduated from foreign universities shall be as follows:1. Physicians who commenced PGY Training on or before July 31, 2020: 1 year2. Physicians who commenced PGY Training on or after August 1, 2020: 2 years

A person falling under either of the following circumstances may receive specialist training without first completing PGY training as prescribed in Article 2:1. The person obtained a physician license before the amendments to these Regulations took effect on June 11, 2010.2. The person holds a foreign specialist certificate recognized by the central competent au-thority.

A current-year graduate of a baccalaureate Chinese medicine program with a double major in medicine may commence PGY Training after passing the Chinese Medicine Practitioner Examination and before passing the second-stage physician examination prescribed in the Regulations Governing Phased Examinations for Physicians, Dentists, Chinese Medicine Practitioners, and Pharmacists under the Professionals and Technologists Examinations (hereinafter referred to as the “second-stage physician examination”). A person who fails to pass the second-stage physician examination within six months after commencing PGY training shall immediately discontinue the training; no more than six months of such train-ing shall be counted.Graduates of a domestic baccalaureate medical program, or baccalaureate Chinese medicine program with a double major in medicine on or before July 31, 2011 may commence PGY Training after graduation. Those who fail to obtain a physician license by June 30, 2012 shall immediately discontinue the training, and no further period of training shall be counted.Graduates falling under the circumstances specified in the preceding paragraph shall not be subject to the restriction set forth in Paragraph 1.

With respect to PGY Training, the central competent authority may conduct the matching and placement of training applicants with medical institutions that provide such training, and may commission a private professional organization or institution to do so.The eligibility requirements, procedures, and operating methods for the matching and placement referred to in the preceding paragraph, as well as the names and annual quotas of the medical institutions providing training, shall be announced annually by the central competent authority.

Physician specialties shall be classified as follows:1. Family Medicine2. Internal Medicine3. Surgery4. Pediatrics5. Obstetrics and Gynecology6. Orthopedics7. Neurosurgery8. Urology9. Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery10. Ophthalmology11. Dermatology12. Neurology13. Psychiatry14. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation15. Anesthesiology16. Diagnostic Radiology17. Radiation Oncology18. Anatomical Pathology19. Clinical Pathology20. Nuclear Medicine21. Emergency Medicine22. Occupational Medicine23. Plastic Surgery24. Critical Care Medicine25. Infectious Diseases

Specialist training shall be conducted at a specialist training hospital recognized by the cen-tral competent authority (hereinafter referred to as “training hospital”).

The criteria for recognition of the training hospitals referred to in the preceding article shall be prescribed by the central competent authority, which shall conduct such recognition on a regular basis and announce a list of training hospitals that meet the prescribed requirements, together with the validity period of their qualifications, their training capacity, and other relevant matters.

A training hospital shall formulate a training plan in accordance with the standards for spe-cialist training curricula prescribed by the central competent authority and shall conduct specialist training accordingly. The number of trainees accepted by a training hospital shall not exceed its approved training capacity.

A Physician who has completed specialist training in a specialty prescribed in these Regu-lations, or who holds a foreign specialist certificate recognized by the central competent au-thority, may take the specialist examination for the relevant specialty.The specialist examination referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be conducted at least once annually for each specialty. The central competent authority may increase the frequency based on the supply of and demand for specialists.

A specialist examinations shall consist of a written examination and may also include an oral examination, a practical assessment, or an on-site examination. However, a person holding a foreign specialist qualification may be exempted from any or all of the written examination, oral examination, practical assessment, or on-site examination.

In conducting specialist examinations, the central competent authority shall prescribe spe-cialist examination principles, which shall include the following matters:1. Eligibility requirements for applying to take a specialist examination;2. Procedures and steps for conducting a specialist examination;3. Examination methods, subjects, scoring, and passing standards;4. The validity period of specialist certificates; and5. Conditions for renewal of specialist certificates and the duration of each renewalThe validity period of a specialist certificate and the duration of each renewal prescribed in Subparagraphs 4 and 5 of the preceding paragraph shall be no less than three (3) years and no more then six (6) years.The central competent authority may invite experts and scholars to form a specialist exami-nation panel to conduct the specialist examinations referred to in Paragraph 1.A person who, before the amendments to these Regulations took effect on April 30, 2026, completed training provided by a relevant medical association in the field of critical care medicine or infectious diseases and was issued a certificate by that association shall, after the amendments take effect, be recognized, in accordance with the specialist examination principles prescribed in Paragraph 1, as possessing the specialist qualification specified in Article 8, Subparagraph 24 or 25.

The conditions for renewal of specialist certificates prescribed in Paragraph 1, Subpara-graph 5 of the preceding article shall be established with due consideration to the character-istics of each specialty and shall include minimum requirements for participation in the fol-lowing academic activities or continuing education:1. Participation in continuing education courses organized by a competent authority, a college or department of medicine, a teaching hospital, or related medical association;2. Participation in a domestic or international academic conference in the relevant specialty;3. Engaging in clinical teaching or delivering a special-topic lecture; or4. Publishing a medical paper in a medicine journal.

Pursuant to Article 7-1, Paragraph 2 of the Act, the central competent authority may com-mission a specialty medical association to conduct the preliminary review for specialist ex-aminations.Upon accepting the commission, the specialty medical association shall establish a special-ist examination committee and conduct the preliminary review in accordance with the spe-cialist examination principles prescribed by the central competent authority.The date and place of each preliminary review referred to in the preceding paragraph and the proposed members of the specialist examination committee shall be submitted to the central competent authority for record at least one (1) month prior to the start of the prelim-inary review.

A specialty medical association commissioned to conduct the preliminary review for spe-cialist examinations shall prepare a roster of applicants based on the results of the prelimi-nary review and submit it, together with the eligibility determinations and scores of the ap-plicants, to the central competent authority for secondary review.

A person who passes a specialist examination may apply to the central competent authority for issuance of a specialist certificate. The same shall apply to an application for reissuance in the event of loss or destruction, or for replacement in the event of damage.A specialist certificate issued, reissued, or replaced pursuant to the preceding paragraph shall state the specialty and the validity period.

A specialist may, during the period from six months to one month before the expiration of the specialist certificate, apply to the central competent authority for renewal by submitting documentary proof that the conditions prescribed in Article 14, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5 have been met.If an applicant is unable to complete the renewal within the prescribed period due to a fail-ure to meet the renewal requirements, the applicant may request a deferred renewal by submitting a written explanation together with the necessary supporting documents to the central competent authority between one (1) and six (6) months prior to the expiration of their current certificate. Such application may be made only once. If the deferred renewal is approved, the applicant may complete the renewal application within one year from the date on which their specialist certificate expires.The central competent authority may commission a private professional organization or in-stitute to review specialist certificate renewal applications submitted under the preceding two paragraphs.

The central competent authority may terminate the commission if a specialty medical asso-ciation commissioned to conduct the preliminary review for specialist examinations violates any law or regulation or fails to comply with the supervision of the central competent au-thority.Specialty medical associations shall help strengthen specialists’ professional ethics, compe-tence, and capabilities.

Where a physician license is revoked or cancelled in accordance with law, the holder’s specialist certificate shall simultaneously be revoked or cancelled, as applicable.

These Regulations shall come into effect on the day of promulgation.