The BIR exam (Resident Internal Biologist) is a nationwide competition for people graduated in Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology or similar, which allows them to access a training specialist position in the National Health System in Spain. The BIR exam is one of the Specialized Health Training (FSE) tests. In this post we will explain all the information you need to know about this selective process.
This exam 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, in which 200 questions are taken into account for the evaluation and 10 are reserve questions. Each correct question will be worth 3 points and each wrong question will subtract one point. Blank questions do not add or subtract. The exam questions include images to lead to mini clinical cases.
A maximum of 4 hours and 30 minutes is allowed to complete the exam. There is no official agenda, since it is considered that anything related to or belonging to the following areas of biology could be asked: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Immunology, Microbiology, Physiology, Cytology, Histology, Pathology, Genetics, Embryology and Statistics. However, an ‘informal’ syllabus is available for preparing the exam, based on previous exams. The mark obtained in the exam (90% of the final mark) together with the evaluation of the scale or academic record (10% of it) allow ordering all those presented from highest to lowest score.
After the exam, the opponents who pass the tests will have the title of Specialist Biologist and will choose the hospital where they will carry out the residency. The exam assesses the knowledge of biology of more than 1,000 graduates in the mentioned 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.
Examples of BIR exams
Below, we show you examples of BIR exams from the last 2 calls.
BIR Exam 2024 (2023-2024 call)
Solutions BIR exam 2024 – version 1
