Zdravniška zbornica Slovenije (ZZS): Licence, Exams and Fees

• Register of doctors (register zdravnikov): doctors (zdravnik) and dentists (doktor dentalne medicine) working in Slovenia.
• Basic licence (osnovna licenca) for doctors without a specialisation, issued permanently.
• Specialist licences for doctor specialists and dentist specialists, valid for seven years and renewable.
• Temporary register entries for invited specialist doctors and doctors performing demonstration procedures under a Ministry of Health permit.
• Temporary entries for EU, EEA and Swiss doctors providing occasional or temporary services after notification by the ministry.
• The professional exam for doctors and dentists, and the professional Slovenian language test for doctors.

• A decision of the Ministry of Health recognising your qualification, or a ministry decision setting supplementary conditions that include a sekundariat (you register before starting it).
• Slovenian at C1 for speaking and B2 for writing (CEFR), proved by secondary school completed in Slovenian, the chamber's language test certificate, or a certificate from a public higher education institution that examines Slovenian as a foreign language.
• Proof of language before you can sit the professional exam.
• A completed register application form sent by post, secure electronic mailbox, email or in person.
• For a specialist licence: recognition of your specialist title or a passed Slovenian specialist exam.
• Doctors trained in the EU or EEA register with a ministry recognition decision and must also show Slovenian.

Check your route with the route finder

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   1. Get your Ministry of Health decision

   Apply to the Ministry of Health under the ZPPKZD with your diploma, programme details, any internship and licensing exam records, a good standing certificate and translations into Slovenian. The chamber's guidance gives the ministry's email, [email protected], for starting the procedure. The ministry's decision tells you whether you need a sekundariat, the professional exam or other conditions.
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   2. Reach C1 Slovenian and sit the chamber's language test

   Apply for the professional language test by the 15th of the month before the test month and pay €610 including VAT. The chamber publishes six sessions across 2026 and 2027, in April, June, September and November. It recommends its textbook Zdrava slovenščina, aimed at A2 to B1 learners, and free tools such as Slovenščina na dlani and the Termania medical dictionaries for preparation.
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   3. Register with the chamber before your sekundariat

   If your decision requires a sekundariat, the chamber says you must be entered in the register before you start it. Send the application form with your ministry decision. Registration makes you a member of the chamber, and the membership lasts until you are removed from the register.
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   4. Complete the sekundariat under supervision

   During the sekundariat you are employed on a sekundarij post and work under a mentor. The chamber describes the standard sekundariat as six months, focused on emergency medicine; the ministry's decision can require all or part of it.
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   5. Pass the professional exam

   Apply by the 20th of the month for the following month's exam, by online form or secure electronic mailbox, with proof of payment. The doctors' exam covers emergency medicine, quality and safety in healthcare, and basics of the legal framework, before an eight-member commission. It is held in Slovenian. Sessions in 2026 begin in the weeks of 21 September, 26 October, 23 November and 14 December.
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   6. Receive your basic licence

   With the ministry's recognition decision and a passed exam, you apply for the basic licence. The chamber says it is granted permanently and does not need renewing, but limits independent work to the emergency medicine scope learned in the sekundariat. The ZPPKZD says the chamber must decide on registration or a licence within 30 days of a complete application.
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   7. Specialists: specialist licence after recognition

   If the ministry recognises your specialist title, the chamber issues the specialist licence automatically. Under the older rules the chamber itself ran specialist recognition, and some of its pages still describe that procedure, so rely on the ministry's current decision.
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   8. Keep your licence valid

   Specialist licences last seven years. To renew, you need at least 75 credit points, including at least 50 in your specialty and 5 in quality, safety, ethics and communication, and work of at least 20% of full time in the specialty with no break of more than four continuous years. The chamber starts renewal four months before expiry; if you fall short, you may have to pass a competency exam before a three-member commission.

• Professional Slovenian language test for doctors

  Tests professional Slovenian at C1 for speaking and B2 for writing, under the chamber's rules on the test (Pravilnik o preizkusu znanja slovenskega strokovnega jezika za zdravnike). The programme was developed with the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts. It is held at the chamber in Ljubljana and costs €610 including VAT. The chamber does not publish the format of each part on its main page; ask the test office.

• Professional exam for doctors (strokovni izpit)

  Three content areas: emergency medicine, quality and safety in healthcare, and basics of the legal framework of health care, before an eight-member commission (six for emergency medicine, one for each other area). The full exam costs €300; emergency medicine alone €200 and the other two areas €50 each. Held monthly except August.

• Professional exam for dentists

  Four content areas: emergency conditions in dentistry, integrated dental care of children and adults with emergencies, quality and safety, and basics of the legal framework, before a five-member commission. The full exam costs €250. The chamber and the Ministry of Health list slightly different splits for the two clinical parts, so confirm the part fees before a resit.

• Competency exam for licence renewal

  For specialists who lack credit points or work in the specialty at renewal. Taken before a three-member commission of specialists.

• The chamber does not accept English tests. Article 11 of the Medical Services Act requires doctors in direct contact with patients to use Slovenian.
• Required level: C1 for speaking and B2 for writing, on the Common European Framework of Reference.
• Accepted proof: a certificate of secondary school (at least) completed in Slovenian; the chamber's certificate of a passed professional Slovenian language test; or a certificate from a public higher education institution in Slovenia or abroad that teaches and examines Slovenian as a second or foreign language.
• The chamber's test costs €610 including VAT; applications close on the 15th of the month before the test.
• Doctors trained in the EU or EEA must also show Slovenian when they register.
• Invited specialist doctors on a ministry permit of up to 12 months do not have to prove Slovenian; the inviting provider must make sure patients are communicated with in Slovenian.

Estimate your total cost

• Language test: six sessions across 2026 and 2027; apply by the 15th of the month before.
• Professional exam: monthly except August; apply by the 20th of the month before.
• Sekundariat: six months for the standard programme, or what your ministry decision requires.
• Registration or licence decision: within 30 days of a complete application, under the ZPPKZD.
• Specialist licence: valid seven years; renewal starts four months before expiry.