The General Directorate of Higher Education in the Ministry of Education and Higher Education announced its intention not to take the new clinical and practical exam within the collocium exams for the first session of the year 2026, provided that its application begins as of the second session scheduled for next November and December, pending the issuance of the official decision by the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Rima Karami, in accordance with the rules.
The Directorate explained, in a statement, that this approach came after a series of deliberations with the Ministry of Public Health and the Doctors’ Syndicates in Beirut and Tripoli, after consulting the head of the Cases Authority at the Ministry of Justice, and based on the approval of the Minister of Education and Higher Education.
The decision comes in the wake of the texts that the Ministry of Education had issued to organize a clinical or practical exam in a number of health specialties, especially general medicine and pharmacy, for those who succeed in the written exam for the first round of colloquium exams for the year 2026.
The Ministry had issued Announcement No. 7022/11 on July 30, 2026 to organize a clinical exam in the general medicine specialty for those who passed the written colloquium exam for the first session. It also issued Announcement No. 7024/11 on the same date to organize a clinical exam in the pharmacy specialty.
This was followed by the issuance of Resolution No. 1110/M/2026 dated August 3, 2026, which set the dates for the clinical examination for the general medicine specialty and the practical examination for the pharmacy specialty returning for the first session, before the General Directorate of Higher Education returned to reconsider the timing of implementing the new mechanism.
According to the latest statement, the clinical and practical exam will not be implemented in the first session according to the approach that was agreed upon, while the start of implementation will move to the second session of the current year, which is scheduled to take place during the period extending between November and December 2026.
The Directorate stressed that completing this path requires the necessary decision to be issued by the Minister of Education, Rima Karami, in accordance with the approved administrative procedures, which means that the statement announces the official direction that has been reached, to be translated into a ministerial decision specifying the final executive formula.
This development puts an end to the controversy raised by the introduction of clinical and practical exams during the first session, especially for students who had passed the written exams according to the mechanisms announced at the start of the session, before additional decisions were issued regarding subjecting them to practical exams.
The reconsideration came after consultation with the relevant health, union and legal authorities, in light of the importance of defining a clear mechanism for implementing any amendment to medical professions exams, the timing of its entry into force, and the students who are covered by the new provisions.
Colloquium exams are one of the most prominent tasks undertaken by the General Directorate of Higher Education, as the Colloquium Department organizes exams for a number of university and health specializations. The Ministry of Education explains that exams are held twice a year, usually during July and December.
At the beginning of the year, Karami had set the dates for the first round of colloquium exams for the year 2026, which began on July 2 and ended on July 17, and included a series of specializations, including medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, midwifery, physical therapy, and others.
Colloquium exams are of particular importance in health specializations, as they are part of the system of verifying the academic and professional qualifications of graduates before moving on to the stages associated with practicing the profession, while the General Directorate of Higher Education allocates different procedures, documents, and conditions for candidacy according to each specialization.
The examination system originally included different formats depending on the specialty, including written, oral, and practical examinations, while the new step related to general medicine and pharmacy aimed to add a practical assessment for successful candidates in the written part.
However, the introduction of a new mechanism during the same session raised the need for broader legal, administrative and union research regarding the timing of implementation, which prompted the Ministry of Education to consult with the Ministry of Health and the two doctors’ unions and seek the opinion of the Cases Authority in the Ministry of Justice before arriving at the final version.
Therefore, the students involved in the first cycle are now awaiting the issuance of Karami’s decision, which will officially decree not taking the clinical and practical examination for this cycle, while the candidates for the second cycle, scheduled to be organized in November and December, will be faced with implementing the new mechanism according to the details and dates that the ministry will announce later.
Postponing the application to the second session gives the Ministry and the relevant professional bodies an additional period to establish the necessary organizational and technical arrangements, and clarify the nature of the examinations, evaluation criteria, and mechanisms for conducting them before they enter into force, in a way that reduces confusion for candidates and establishes the rules before the start of the new session.
