Nuclear Medicine: the Practice Eligibility Route
Requirements as published by the Royal College. Last reviewed August 2026.
Nuclear Medicine at a glance
- Required time in training
- 5 yearsSTR: Pathway 1: Five (5) years of approved residency training. Pathway 2 (in association with Diagnostic Radiology): a minimum of six (6) years
- 2026 exam timing
- Written in the Spring; Applied in the Spring (same year)
- Apply for assessment of training
- by April 30 of the year before your exam
- Register for the exam
- September 1 – November 4 of the year before
- Exam attempts
- Maximum 4 attempts per component within a 5-year eligibility period
The Royal College reads your postgraduate training and practice record in Nuclear Medicine against the published Specialty Training Requirements. Those requirements are set out in full below, so you can see how your own training compares before you apply.
What licence can I get, and when?
Certification is national. Licensure is provincial. You do not need Royal College certification (FRCPC) to be licensed. Several provinces license you at an earlier PER stage, and the earliest any province accepts is the eligibility letter alone. The table applies to every specialty that reached exam eligibility through the PER.
Full province table: MCCQE, job offer and licence type
| Province | MCCQE | RC written | RC applied | Licence issued | Job offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | Required | Required | Required | Full | Not required |
| British Columbia | Not required | Required | Required | Provisional | Required |
| Saskatchewan | Required | Required | Required | Provisional | Required |
| Manitoba | Not required | Required | Required | Provisional | Required |
| Ontario | Not required | Required | Not required | Provisional, 3 years | Required |
| Nova Scotia (a) | Not required | Not required | Not required | Defined, 6 to 24 months | Required |
| Nova Scotia (b) | Not required | Required | Required | Full | Required |
| New Brunswick | Not required | Not required | Not required | Special, then Defined | Required |
| Newfoundland & Labrador, PEI | Required* | Not required | Not required | Provisional | Required |
* The MCCQE may be waived where the candidate has five or more years of independent practice abroad. Case by case, never guaranteed.
Educational only. Rules change, and each regulator decides on factors that may not be listed here; Filipe Santos MD does not make licensure decisions. Checked October 9, 2026 against each regulator's pages; Ontario confirmed with the CPSO in October 2026. Confirm with the regulator before you act.
Province notes (Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the MCCQE) are in the PER guide.
How training is structured
The Royal College sets out the training for Nuclear Medicine in the blocks below. An internationally trained specialist is assessed on whether their own training and practice record is comparable in structure and content.
Requirements document: 2016; Version 2.0 (applies to those beginning training on or after July 1st, 2016)
Required experiences7
Specific experiences the Royal College names for this discipline.
- P1 1.1 Minimum three (3) months Internal Medicine and/or its subspecialties
- P1 1.2 Any combination of surgery, pediatrics, radiation oncology, or pathology, maximum three (3) months in any one area
- P1 1.3 Maximum two (2) months Diagnostic Radiology or Nuclear Medicine
- P1 2. Minimum one (1) and maximum three (3) months clinical Cardiology
- P1 3. Three (3) years Nuclear Medicine: 3.1 general Nuclear Medicine (bone mineral densitometry; tumor imaging with single photon tracers; endocrine, gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, lymphatic, musculoskeletal, neurologic, pulmonary, renal and genitourinary systems); 3.2 nuclear cardiology (myocardial perfusion — exercise and pharmacological; cardiac function — gated blood pool/first pass); 3.3 PET/CT imaging; 3.4 hybrid imaging (SPECT/CT and PET/CT); 3.5 pediatric nuclear medicine; 3.6 therapeutic nuclear medicine (thyrotoxicosis; thyroid cancer; other, including pain palliation, synovectomy, and targeted cancer therapy)
- P1 4. Six (6) months cross-sectional imaging in Diagnostic Radiology (head, chest, and body CT and MRI)
- P2 2. Three (3) years Diagnostic Radiology; P2 3. Two (2) years Nuclear Medicine (same 3.1–3.6 content); P2 4. One (1) to three (3) months clinical Cardiology within section 1 or 3
Flexible or selective components1
Where the requirements allow a choice.
- P1 5. Up to six (6) months selected from one or more of: 5.1 additional training in Nuclear Medicine; 5.2 scholarly activity (research, quality assurance, or educational activity relevant to Nuclear Medicine); 5.3 Diagnostic Radiology; 5.4 Internal Medicine; 5.5 clinical training acceptable to the residency program committee
Common questions
More questions about specialists trained abroad, each answered once with its official source, are in the IMG FAQ Center.
What is the Practice Eligibility Route in Nuclear Medicine?
The Practice Eligibility Route (PER) is the Royal College process by which an internationally trained specialist can be assessed for eligibility to sit the certification examination in Nuclear Medicine without repeating a Canadian residency. The Royal College reads your postgraduate training and practice record against the published Specialty Training Requirements for the discipline.
What training does the Royal College expect in Nuclear Medicine?
The Specialty Training Requirements describe pathway 1: Five (5) years of approved residency training. Pathway 2 (in association with Diagnostic Radiology): a minimum of six (6) years. The full block-by-block structure is set out on this page, taken from the Royal College document for this discipline.
Does meeting the training requirements guarantee eligibility?
No. Eligibility is a committee decision made on your individual file, and other factors are considered. This page reproduces the published requirements so you can see how your own training compares before you apply; it is not an eligibility ruling.
Where do I start?
Read the seven steps in the PER guide, then have your training mapped against the Specialty Training Requirements before you pay any fees. The free PDF for this specialty carries the steps, the document checklist, and the Nuclear Medicine requirements in one file.
The Nuclear Medicine guide as one PDF
The seven PER steps, your document checklist, and the Nuclear Medicine training requirements in a single file. Free. Not sure the PER is your route? The screener checks your file against every route in about two minutes.
Other specialties27
Canadian clinical fellowships in Nuclear Medicine are in the Fellowship Finder.
Adapted from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Specialty Training Requirements for Nuclear Medicine. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Royal College; every application is reviewed individually and final decisions rest solely with the Royal College. Verify current requirements at royalcollege.ca.