Written by: Mohammed Alkahlout, Reviewed by: Dr.Khaled Shatat, Edited by: Majed Jaber

Congratulations, You have come this far to the equivalence exam STS. In this article, we will dive into every detail you need to pass the exam with the highest score possible.

Turkish Equivalence Exams

Regarding the preparation for STS and TUS exams, Turkish medical students start the preparation for the TUS exam during the last 2-3 years of medical school. Some go to private preparatory courses supervised by experienced doctors at each branch. Another group studied at home using the books of old exams like Tüm TUS Data, TusTime, and other books, which are about 11 books.

where can you take the exam?

The exam has two dates in February and August in the capital of Turkey, Ankara. You have to register in the Turkish measurement and evaluation center at least one month before the date of the exam. You can find the dates on the website of the center:
http://www.osym.gov.tr/ana-sayfa/1-0/20150828.html
You can take the exam more than one time, but each time costs you 500 Turkish lira recently. We have to be more careful due to the fast decrease in the value of the Turkish Lira in comparison to the US dollar.

The structure of the exam

The Turkish equivalence exam, STS, is the same as the clinical stage of the Turkish specialization exam, TUS. It consists of 120 MCQ in a duration of 2 hours and a half. The passing percentage is 40%, but you have to take care that every 4 mistakes delete one correct answer. So if you do not know a question, do not guess.
The 120 MCQs are divided in the following way:
1- 35 MCQ medicine
2- 30 MCQ pediatric
3- 30 MCQ general surgery
4- 12 MCQ Obstetrics and Gynecology
5- 10-20 MCQ minors

The scores come out in a month after the exam, and here comes the next step: Mandatory training.

We have to take care that the mark of the exam is the only determinate of your specialty. You have to know that minor surgical branches, dermatology, and radiology are more preferred. So that you should get a high mark to get a branch of them. İn addition to the branch, according to your mark, your city and hospital will be identified. Due to some legal regulations, doctors nowadays do not prefer major surgeries like general, orthopedic, .. etc. So, these branches have a low mark to start in.

The mandatory training

Starting from the beginning of 2018, the Turkish government stated that the foreign doctors who want to work in turkey need to have a training period that ranges from 6-12 months in the Turkish hospitals.
It aims to get the foreign doctors familiar with the Turkish system and to practice the Turkish language. Some doctors get 6 months of training, others get 9 months of training, and few ones get one-year training. It depends on the decision that takes the specialized commission in the higher ministry of education. The decision varies depending on your bachelor’s courses and the training you got in your bachelor.

You will be asked to choose three governmental hospitals for your training, and the ministry of higher education chooses one of them for you to take the training in. but there are a few things you have to notice.

There is no salary nor holidays in the training period. Second, some hospitals take fees for the training period, so make sure that the three hospitals you choose do not apply fees on the training.

Don’t forget to read our article about the EQUIVALENCY PROCESS in Turkey:
https://mdguidance.com/medicine-in-turkey-equivalency-process/