El BIR exam (Resident Biologist Intern) It is a national competition for people who have graduated in Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology or similar, which allows them to access a position as a specialist in training in the National Health System in Spain. The BIR exam is one of the Specialized Health Training (FSE) testsIn this post we will provide you with all the information you need to know about this selection process.
El exam It is held annually and takes place between the months of January and February, normally the last week of January and the first week of February.
The BIR exam
The BIR is a biology exam with 210 multiple-choice questions, of which 200 questions are taken into account for the assessment and 10 are reserve questions. Each correct answer will be worth 3 points and each wrong answer will subtract one point. Blank questions do not add or subtract. The exam questions include images to give way to mini clinical cases.
A maximum of 4 hours and 30 minutes is allowed to complete the exam. There is no official syllabus, as it is considered that questions could be asked anything related to or belonging to the following areas of biology: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Immunology, Microbiology, Physiology, Cytology, Histology, Pathology, Genetics, Embryology and Statistics. However, there is an 'unofficial' syllabus for preparing for the exam, based on previous exams. The grade obtained in the exam (90% of the final grade) together with the assessment of the academic scale or record (10% of the same) allow all those presented to be ranked from highest to lowest score.
After the exam, candidates who pass the tests will be awarded the title of Specialist Biologist and will be able to choose the hospital where they will do their residency. The exam assesses the biology knowledge of more than 1.000 graduates of the aforementioned degrees.
BIR Exam Specialties
The position as a Specialist Biologist in the Spanish National Health System has 6 possible specialties:
- Clinical Analysis
- Clinical Biochemistry
- Immunology
- Microbiology
All of them have a training period of 4 years.
BIR exam examples
Below we show you examples of BIR exams from the last 2 calls.
BIR Exam 2024 (2023-2024 session)
BIR Exam Solutions 2024 – version 1
BIR Exam 2023 (2022-2023 session)
BIR Exam Solutions 2023 – version 1
