TEP Psiquiatria

It certifies that a physician has reached specialist level in psychiatry and can practise independently in Portugal. It is used both by residents finishing national training and by candidates seeking recognition of foreign specialist qualifications. Passing it is a milestone in a career, not a licence to skip continuing professional development afterwards.

It is a multiple-choice examination. The number of questions, the time allowed, whether negative marking applies and whether there is an oral or clinical component are set by the examining body and can change between sittings. Check the official notice for your sitting rather than relying on what earlier candidates describe.

It is a specialist-level paper, so questions assume working clinical knowledge rather than undergraduate recall. The difficulty comes from breadth and from items that combine diagnosis, risk assessment and treatment choice. Candidates in active clinical posts usually find the clinical items manageable; the epidemiology and legal sections are where confident generalists can still lose marks.

Most candidates spread revision over the final year of training, with the last three to four months focused on timed practice and weak domains. There is no official recommended preparation period. Judge by your baseline: if your last formal study of psychopharmacology was several years ago, start earlier and protect weekly slots.

Retake rules, waiting periods and any limit on attempts are defined by the examining body, and they are not uniform across years. Read the regulation attached to the current call for applications, or ask the body directly, before you plan a second attempt. Do not assume the conditions that applied to a colleague will apply to you.

Fees and the examination calendar are published by the official body for each sitting and are not fixed from year to year. Consult its website for the current figures and dates. Budget also for documentation, translations and certification of foreign qualifications, which can cost more than the examination fee itself.

Start with psychopathology and diagnostic formulation, because nearly every other item depends on getting the diagnosis right. Then move to psychopharmacology, which carries the largest single weighting, and build treatment algorithms disorder by disorder. Leave forensic and health-law material for a dedicated block late in preparation, when you can memorise it fresh.

Candidates lose marks by memorising drug lists without knowing when to use them, by ignoring legal and ethical items as low-yield, and by never practising under time pressure. Another frequent error is answering from personal habit rather than from current guideline recommendations. Review every wrong practice answer and trace it back to a source.

The examining body's own website and the official notice for your sitting are the only reliable sources for question count, duration, fee, pass mark, retake policy and validity of the title. This page gives preparation guidance only and has no official connection to the examination or to the body that administers it.