SMLE Preparation Plan: An 8-Week Study Schedule for International Medical Graduates

An 8-week SMLE study plan for IMGs from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Egypt and elsewhere, built on the official SCFHS blueprint weights and the real 200-question, two-block format.

If you are a graduate of a medical school in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Sudan, Nigeria or anywhere else and you want to work in Saudi Arabia, the SMLE is the exam between you and your SCFHS licence. This plan assumes you work full time or are finishing a house job, so it asks for about 2 to 3 hours a day and is built around what the exam actually looks like.

What you are preparing for

200 MCQs in two blocks of 100, 120 minutes per block, with a scheduled 30-minute break (up to 10% of items may be unscored pilot questions).
Four options, one best answer, mixing direct recall with scenario questions on interpretation and decision-making.
Weights: Medicine 30%, Obstetrics & Gynecology 25%, Pediatrics 25%, Surgery 20% (each can move by up to 5% between forms).
Pass score: 560 on a 200 to 800 scale.

Medicine, OB/GYN and Pediatrics together are 80% of the paper, so they get most of your hours. See the full SMLE structure and blueprint guide for the official numbers.

The 8-week schedule

Weeks	Focus	Daily routine
1 to 2	Medicine: cardiology, respiratory, GI, endocrine, nephrology	40 to 50 MCQs in Tutor mode, read every explanation, note the pattern behind each miss
3	Medicine: infection, haematology, rheumatology, neurology, critical care	Same, plus redo yesterday's misses
4	Obstetrics & Gynecology	50 MCQs a day, antenatal and intrapartum first
5	Pediatrics	50 MCQs a day, immunisation and development schedules by heart
6	Surgery, trauma, ethics, preventive medicine and patient safety	50 MCQs a day, then one mixed 50-question block
7	Weak-area repair	Redo every question you got wrong, then mixed timed blocks
8	Full-length rehearsal	One full 200-question attempt in two 120-minute blocks with a real 30-minute break, then a day of review

Rules that matter more than the schedule

Review beats volume. Ten questions fully understood teach more than thirty skimmed. Write the reason you missed each one: knowledge gap, misread stem, or second-guessing.
Learn the Saudi and Gulf context. Brucellosis, thalassaemia and sickle cell, consanguinity-related conditions and local vaccination schedules appear in the blueprint. IMGs trained in other systems should check these specifically.
Do not neglect ethics and safety. Confidentiality, consent, breaking bad news and medication safety are listed at the highest mastery level in the blueprint and are among the cheapest marks to win.
Practise reading fast. You have 120 minutes for 100 questions, about 72 seconds each.

Sample questions to test yourself on

1. A boy who owns a cat develops a month of itching with red, watery eyes and discharge, but no lymphadenopathy and a normal general exam. What is the diagnosis?

A) Bacterial conjunctivitis
B) Cat scratch disease-related dermatitis
C) Viral conjunctivitis
D) Allergic conjunctivitis ✅

Itching, redness, watering, and discharge without lymphadenopathy or systemic symptoms in the setting of a pet allergen exposure is consistent with allergic conjunctivitis.

2. As the facial nerve exits near the temporomandibular joint and enters the parotid gland, what is its relationship to the retromandibular vein and external carotid artery?

A) It passes deep to the retromandibular vein only
B) It passes deep to the external carotid artery only
C) It passes between the retromandibular vein and external carotid artery
D) It passes superficial to both the retromandibular vein and external carotid artery ✅

Within the parotid gland, structures are arranged from superficial to deep as: facial nerve and its branches, then the retromandibular vein, then the external carotid artery.

3. What are the three defining features of HELLP syndrome in pregnancy?

A) Hypertension, elevated liver enzymes, high platelets
B) Hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets ✅
C) Hypertension, edema, low platelets
D) Hemolysis, low liver enzymes, high platelets

HELLP syndrome is named for its three key features: Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, and Low Platelets, considered a severe variant of preeclampsia.

Before you book

Costs, dates and eligibility are in the SMLE exam fee guide and the SMLE dates and registration guide. Candidates can sit up to four times a year until they pass, but a fail still costs time and money, so book when your timed blocks are consistently comfortable.

Practise the full SMLE QBank: nearly 3,000 vignette MCQs with one-line explanations, plus timed mock exams that follow the real two-block structure. Your first 20 questions are free.

Exam rules change. Everything above comes from the official SCFHS SMLE content guideline; confirm the current version on the official portal before you book or pay.