1.2 Eligibility, Internship, PRC Filing & Test-Day Rules
Key Takeaways
Section 9 of RA 2382, as amended by RA 5946, requires citizenship or reciprocity, good moral character, sound mind, no conviction for moral turpitude, an MD degree, and one calendar year of internship.
The age of 21 is a Section 8 requirement for practicing medicine, not one of the Section 9 qualifications for taking the examination.
PRC asks Philippine MD graduates for a PSA birth certificate, TOR, MD diploma, two good-moral certificates, and a Post Graduate Internship certificate from an APMC-accredited hospital.
The PRC examination fee for baccalaureate-level boards, including the PLE, is ₱900; initial registration after passing is ₱600 plus the ₱450 annual fee (₱1,050).
The 2026 PLE programs require the school uniform and ban all calculators, smartwatches and smart eyeglasses, phones, earplugs, Bluetooth devices, review materials and bags of any kind.
Who may take the PLE
Two sections of the Medical Act of 1959 (RA 2382) are often confused.
- Section 8 (prerequisite to practice): no one may practice medicine unless he or she is at least 21 years old, has passed the board examination, and holds a valid Certificate of Registration.
- Section 9 (candidates for the board examination), as amended by RA 4224 and RA 5946: the candidate must:
- be a Philippine citizen, or a foreign citizen whose country permits Filipinos to practice medicine on the same terms (reciprocity, confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs);
- be of good moral character;
- be of sound mind;
- not have been convicted by a competent court of any offense involving moral turpitude;
- hold the degree of Doctor of Medicine or its equivalent from a government-recognized college of medicine; and
- have completed a calendar year of technical training known as internship, prescribed by the Board of Medical Education and done in approved hospitals and health centers (added by RA 5946 in 1969).
Age is therefore a condition for practice and registration, not one of the six statutory qualifications for sitting the examination. Moral turpitude also appears in Section 20 (grounds to refuse registration) and Section 24 (grounds for reprimand, suspension or revocation).
The post-graduate internship
The internship requirement is met through the Post Graduate Internship (PGI), a one-year rotating internship after the MD degree. Interns rotate through the major clinical services (internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and community or family medicine, among others) in a training hospital. For Philippine medical school graduates, PRC requires a Certificate of Post Graduate Internship issued by a hospital accredited by the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges (APMC). The exact rotation schedule is set by the APMC program and the hospital, not by PRC.
Documentary requirements (Philippine MD graduates)
For the complete or final examination, PRC's published list for Filipino citizens who earned the MD in a Philippine medical school is:
| Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|
| PSA birth certificate | Issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority |
| PSA marriage contract | Married female applicants only |
| Two certificates of good moral character | From any two of: the medical school, the hospital or institution where the internship was completed, or the applicant's indigenous community or parish |
| Transcript of Records (TOR) | For board examination purposes |
| MD diploma | From a college of medicine recognized by the government |
| Certificate of Post Graduate Internship | From an APMC-accredited hospital |
A candidate who has failed for the third time must also submit a certificate of completion of a refresher course in a recognized medical school or college. He or she must also present two current good-moral certificates, one from the medical school and one from the internship hospital or institution.
The "Prelims only" track is for students enrolled in CHED-recognized medical schools. It needs a PSA birth certificate, a marriage contract if applicable, a TOR, and a good-moral certificate from the Dean. Foreign citizens and graduates of foreign medical schools file under separate PRC requirement lists, so check the current PRC list before filing.
Filing through PRC online services
Applications are filed through PRC's online system at online.prc.gov.ph, which is part of the Licensure Examination and Registration Information System (LERIS):
- Create or update your profile and upload an ID-style photo.
- Choose the Physicians Licensure Examination, the testing center and the exam date.
- Book a documentary appointment and pay the examination fee of ₱900. This is PRC's fee for examinations that require a baccalaureate degree. Conditioned examinees pay ₱450 in professions that have conditional status, but the PLE has none.
- Upload or present the documents. Once PRC tags the application as complied, print the Notice of Admission (NOA).
- Check your room assignment on the PRC website a few days before the exam.
For the October 2026 PLE, PRC's 2026 calendar set the filing window from July 3 to September 3, 2026.
Test-day rules from the 2026 PLE programs
Wear your school uniform. The March and October 2026 programs both require it.
Bring:
- your NOA;
- two or more No. 2 pencils;
- regular black-ink ballpens with transparent casing (no sign pens, friction pens or technical pens);
- one long brown envelope and one long transparent plastic envelope for valuables;
- packed snacks, meals, medicines and hygiene kits in clear containers, with enough drinking water.
No food deliveries are allowed during the exam.
Strictly prohibited:
- books, notes and printed review materials;
- all kinds of calculators;
- smartwatches and smart eyeglasses;
- cellular phones, earplugs, transmitters, portable computers and Bluetooth devices;
- bags of any kind.
Bodily search and confiscation follow Annex A of PRC Memorandum Order No. 57 (s. 2020). Searches use the least intrusive means and are done by personnel of the same sex. Confiscated items are documented in an incident report. Because calculators are banned, every biostatistics, dosing and fluid calculation on the PLE must be solvable by hand.
After passing: oath and registration
Successful examinees take the professional oath (Panunumpa ng Propesyonal) and complete initial registration online. They then receive the Certificate of Registration and the Professional Identification Card. PRC's published registration fee for baccalaureate professions is ₱600, plus the ₱450 annual registration fee, for ₱1,050. Renewing the professional ID later requires compliance with the Continuing Professional Development Act (RA 10912).
Which requirement is found in Section 8 of the Medical Act (the prerequisite to practice) rather than in the Section 9 qualifications for taking the board examination?
Being at least 21 years of age
Having no conviction for an offense involving moral turpitude
Holding a Doctor of Medicine degree or its equivalent
Completing a calendar year of internship
A Philippine MD graduate needs two good-moral-character certificates for the PLE application. Which pair of issuers matches PRC's published list?
The barangay captain and the National Bureau of Investigation
The medical school and the hospital where the internship was completed
Two licensed physicians who are not relatives of the applicant
The Philippine Medical Association and a specialty society
Which item may an examinee bring into the PLE testing room under the 2026 program?
A regular black-ink ballpen with transparent casing
A smartwatch switched to airplane mode
A small backpack kept under the chair
A basic non-programmable calculator for biostatistics items
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.