Algeria's Residanat Exam and Medical Specialization Path

What the residanat is

After finishing the doctorat en medecine, dental medicine or pharmacy degree in Algeria, you have a choice. Register as a general practitioner, or sit the concours de residanat to train as a specialist. The residanat is a competitive national exam that opens the door to specialty training inside university hospitals, and it applies the same way to medicine, dental medicine and pharmacy graduates.

You do not need to pass the exam by a fixed date after graduating. Many graduates sit it more than once to improve their rank before the specialty they want fills up.

How the concours works

The exam tests the medical, surgical, and public health knowledge built over your degree. Getting the pass average matters, but it is not the deciding factor. What determines your specialty and the city where you train is your position on the national ranking list once every candidate's score is in.

Candidates with the highest ranks choose first, working down a list of open posts by specialty and location. A strong general average with a mediocre rank can still leave you without your first choice of specialty.

The 2025/2026 concours

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research opened 4,614 residency posts for the 2025/2026 academic year, according to El Moudjahid . The breakdown covered medicine, dental medicine and pharmacy tracks.

Written exams for this cycle took place October 25-27, 2025, as reported by Horizons . Posts are spread across the country's medical faculties, including Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Annaba, Setif, Blida, Tlemcen, Ouargla, Bejaia and Sidi Bel Abbes, so where you rank affects not only your specialty but which city you move to for training.

Choosing your specialty

Registration for the concours asks you to list your preferred specialties and locations in order. Once results are published, the ranking system runs through the list from the top scorer down, assigning each resident the highest choice still open when their turn comes.

Popular specialties such as cardiology, general surgery and radiology fill quickly, so a rank near the top of the list carries far more weight than the specialty preferences a mid-table candidate writes down.

What residency training involves

Once assigned a post, you work as a resident doctor (resident) inside a university hospital department tied to your specialty, combining clinical duties with structured teaching toward your specialized diploma (DEMS). Residency length varies by specialty, running longer for surgical fields than for most medical ones.

New rule on double specialization

A joint interministerial order dated July 22, 2025 bars residents from pursuing two specialized medical diplomas at the same time or one immediately after another. If you complete a residency and want a second specialty, you now need to reapply through a fresh concours cycle rather than moving straight into a second diploma track, per the same order reported by El Moudjahid.

This tightens what had been a route some doctors used to stack multiple specialist qualifications back to back, and it pushes candidates to be more deliberate about the specialty they choose in their first concours attempt.