Physicians having completed specialist training in respect of the specialization defined in these Regulations or having obtained foreign specialist certification and being approved by the central competent health authority may participate in the specialist examination for said specialization.
The aforesaid specialist examination for each specialization shall be conducted at least once every year. The central competent health authority, however, may increase or decrease the frequency based on the availability of specialists.

(Deleted)

Specialist examination shall be in the form of a written examination and may be accompanied with an oral examination, test, or field test. However, those with the qualifications of a foreign specialist the system and training process, of which are confirmed to be equivalent to ours, may be exempt from the written examination, oral examination, test, or field test.

The central competent health authority shall enact examination rules governing the specialist examination, the content of which shall include the following items:
1. qualifications to apply for the specialist examination;
2. procedures and process of the examination;
3. examination methods, tested subjects, scoring system, and passing score;
4. validity period of specialist certificates; and
5. qualifications to extend the validity period of a specialist certificate and the length of each extension.
The validity period of a specialist certificate and the length of each extension referred to in Subparagraphs 4 and 5 of the preceding paragraph shall be subject to a minimum of three(3) years and maximum of six(6) years.
The specialist examination set forth in Paragraph 1 hereof may be conducted by an examination unit consisting of experts or scholars invited by the central competent health authority.

The qualifications to extend the validity period of a specialist certificate set forth in Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5 of the preceding article shall be subject to the characteristics of each specialization and shall include the minimum standards as the participation in the following academic activities or continuing education:
1. having participated in the continuing education held by a competent health authority, medical school, teaching hospital, and relevant medical association;
2. having participated in a domestic or overseas symposium in respect of relevant medical specialization;
3. having participated in clinical teaching or keynote speeches; or
4. having published medical papers in a medical journal.

The central competent health authority may entrust the initial review for specialist examination to an association for the related medical specialization pursuant to Article 7-1, Paragraph 2 of the Physicians Act.
Upon being entrusted, the association for the related medical specialization shall conduct the initial review pursuant to the examination rules enacted by the central competent health authority and organize an examination committee for the handling.
The time and location of the initial review and candidates for the examination committee for the initial review set forth in the preceding paragraph shall be reported to the central competent health authority for the record within one(1) month after the handling of initial review commences.

Based on the results of the initial review conducted by the entrusted association for the related medical specialization, the association shall compile a list of examinees and submit same as well as the qualifications and scores of said examinees to the central competent health authority for a second review.

Those who have passed the specialist examination may apply to the central competent health authority for the issuance of a specialist certificate, as well as the replacement and renewal in case of a lost or damaged specialist certificate.
The specialist certificate subject to the issuance, replacement, or renewal set forth in the preceding paragraph shall contain the underlying specialization and validity period.

A specialist may, with the evidencing documents set forth in Article 11, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5 hereof submitted, apply to the central competent health authority for a renewal of the specialist certificate six(6) months prior to the expiration of the validity period. However, should a specialist fail to apply for a renewal by the expiration due to a special reason, said specialist may make a supplemental application for the renewal one(1) year after the validity period expires if the specialist’s application, submitted with a written request and evidencing documents, for a postponed renewal application is approved by the central competent health authority.
The central competent health authority may entrust a private professional organization or group to review the specialist certificate renewal applications set forth in the preceding paragraph.

The central competent health authority may terminate the entrust relationship should the association for the related medical specialization entrusted to conduct the initial review for specialist examination be in violation of the law or disobey the governance of the central competent health authority.