NMCLE study guide
NMCLE · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Nepal Medical Council licensure examination is the credentialing gateway that allows an MBBS graduate to register and practise as a medical doctor in Nepal. It is written for graduates of Nepalese medical colleges and for those holding a recognised foreign MBBS who are seeking registration through the Council. The NMCLE study guide has 12 sections and about 3,343 words.
01Internal Medicine
Internal Medicine is a major content block in the NMCLE. It tests whether you can take a common Nepali presentation - fever, breathlessness, chest pain, oedema, altered consciousness - and reach a safe first-line decision.
326 words, about 2 min02Surgery
Surgical items in the NMCLE test the decision to operate and the preparation that makes operation safe, rather than fine operative detail. Expect acute abdomen, trauma, burns, hernia, breast lumps, testicular pain, and wound and fluid management.
308 words, about 2 min03Obstetrics and Gynecology
This domain tests the emergencies that kill mothers in Nepal - postpartum haemorrhage, hypertensive disease, obstructed labour and sepsis - plus routine antenatal care, contraception and abortion law. Antenatal care: at least four visits, blood pressure and urine protein at each, iron and folate, tetanus toxoid, fundal height, and haemoglobin.
319 words, about 2 min04Pediatrics
Paediatric items test integrated case management: dehydration, pneumonia, neonatal care, growth and nutrition, and the national immunisation schedule. Answers usually hinge on classification and the correct first-line step.
311 words, about 2 min05Community Medicine and Public Health
This domain tests measurement and programme logic: study designs, measures of disease frequency and association, screening statistics, and Nepal's public health programmes. Incidence counts new cases over a period and measures risk; prevalence counts all existing cases at a point in time.
259 words, about 1 min06Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Pharmacology items test whether you can predict what a drug will do in a real patient: how it is cleared, what interacts with it, and which adverse effect matters most. First-order kinetics: a constant fraction is eliminated per unit time, so half-life is constant.
255 words, about 1 min07Pathology
Pathology items link mechanism to morphology: how cells respond to injury, how inflammation is classified, and how benign and malignant lesions are distinguished. Reversible injury shows swelling and fatty change; irreversible injury shows membrane damage and mitochondrial failure.
244 words, about 1 min08Anatomy and Physiology
These items test clinically applied structure and function: which nerve is injured with which fracture, what lies in a canal, and how a physiological variable is regulated. Brachial plexus: roots C5–T1.
281 words, about 1 min09Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Items test pattern recognition from specimen and staining plus the choice of antimicrobial - increasingly framed around stewardship and infection control. Gram stain divides bacteria by cell wall; culture and sensitivity guide therapy.
269 words, about 1 min10Biochemistry and Nutrition
Items connect metabolic pathways to bedside deficiencies, diabetes diagnosis and nutritional assessment. Glycolysis yields 2 ATP and 2 pyruvate per glucose; the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation yield most ATP.
225 words, about 1 min11Forensic Medicine and Medical Ethics
Items test legal and ethical reasoning in ordinary clinical situations: consent, confidentiality, negligence, documentation, poisoning, and the Nepali legal framework for abortion and organ donation. Valid consent: informed, voluntary, given by a person with capacity; in Nepal the legal age is 18.
272 words, about 1 min12Otorhinolaryngology and Ophthalmology
These items test the red-flag eye and ear presentations that must be recognised and referred, plus hearing assessment and common ENT infections. Acute otitis media: bulging red drum, fever, earache; treat with amoxicillin, and give analgesia.
274 words, about 1 min