DHA exam guide: the full process.

What the DHA exam is and who needs it

The DHA exam is a licensing assessment, not a course. Passing it is one requirement among several for registering with the Dubai Health Authority.

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) regulates health professionals who work in Dubai. Before you can treat patients there you need DHA registration, which your employer then activates into a licence. For many titles DHA asks you to pass an assessment first. Most often that is a computer-based test (CBT) delivered by Prometric. Some titles are assessed by an oral interview instead, and DHA says the route depends on your professional title.

Who it is forOfficial

Nurses and midwives, physicians and specialists, dentists, pharmacists and allied health professionals who want to practise in a DHA-regulated facility. DHA licenses by professional title.

What it isOfficial

A requirement set in the professional qualification requirements for your title. DHA documents describe passing "any required" assessment, either a CBT or an oral assessment.

What it is not

It is not a residency entrance exam. Doctors who want specialty training in the UAE look at EMREE, which is a separate exam. See EMREE vs DHA.

Other regulatorsReported

Abu Dhabi (Department of Health) and the northern emirates (Ministry of Health and Prevention) have their own licensing. A DHA result does not automatically carry over. Read DHA vs DOH vs MOHAP.

Dubai Healthcare CityReported

Sources disagree on whether professionals inside Dubai Healthcare City are licensed by DHA or by the free-zone regulator. Ask your employer which one applies to you before you start.

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The licensing process at a glance

There are seven stages between a blank Sheryan screen and a licence. The exam is stage five, so a lot of the work happens before you open a question bank.

1. 1
   Check the requirements for your titleA few days

   Know your route and your document list before you pay anyone.

2. 2
   Create your Sheryan account and take the self-assessmentAbout an hour

   Your Unique ID and your result from the self-assessment tool start the file.

3. 3
   Start primary source verification with DataFlowWeeks

   Your issuers are contacted directly. This is usually the longest wait.

4. 4
   Get eligible and book your Prometric examDays to weeks

   You book once your Sheryan account shows you can.

5. 5
   Sit the exam and read your result in SheryanOne day

   A 3-hour sitting for most CBT candidates, then a short wait.

6. 6
   Submit your DHA application and pay the feesDays to weeks

   Upload your documents and complete the application.

7. 7
   Receive registration and have your facility activate itDepends on your employer

   Your employer activates it into a licence.

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Step by step through Sheryan, DataFlow and Prometric

Here is each stage in the order most candidates meet it, with what to do, what to save and what usually goes wrong.

Stage 1: Check the requirements for your title

DHA publishes a Manual for Licensing Healthcare Professionals and a set of professional qualification requirements (PQR). Together they say which degrees, internship or training, experience and assessment each title needs. Read the part for your profession and specialty, note the minimum experience, and check whether your title is assessed by CBT or by an oral assessment. The Sheryan portal also has a service called Review Registration Eligibility that points to the same rules.

Two details from the published manuals are worth knowing now. A good standing certificate must be no more than six months old when you submit, and it must come from the authority that issued your licence. If your last verified experience is more than two years old, DHA asks for experience, licence and good standing to be checked again.

Stage 2: Create your Sheryan account and take the self-assessment

Sheryan is DHA's e-licensing portal. Register, save your Unique ID somewhere safe and use the same name as your passport. Then complete the self-assessment tool. DHA describes it as the first step, and your result is kept under your applications. It tells you which title and route fit your qualifications, which saves you from paying for the wrong one.

Stage 3: Start primary source verification with DataFlow

DHA uses the DataFlow Group to carry out primary source verification (PSV). DataFlow contacts your university, your licensing body and your past employers directly to confirm that your documents are genuine. You submit scans through the process DHA shows you, and DataFlow gives you a reference number to track.

• DataFlow has set standards for scan clarity and format. Poor scans are a common cause of delays.
• DataFlow guidance has described 20 to 30 days, longer if there are discrepancies or the application is incomplete. Candidate guides often report 30 to 45 working days. Plan for the longer end.
• Fees and packages change and depend on your profession and the number of documents. Check the current schedule on the DataFlow site and in Sheryan, and do not rely on a figure you saw on a forum.
• A verification report is reported to be reusable with other regulators, but each regulator decides what it accepts. Confirm before you rely on it.

Stage 4: Get eligible and book your Prometric exam

DHA states that its computer-based tests are run by its partner Prometric. When your Sheryan account shows you as eligible, reports describe an eligibility number or letter that you use on the Prometric DHA booking page to choose a test centre, a date and a time. Without it, bookings are reported to be rejected, so do not book early on a hunch.

• Book with the same name as your passport. A mismatch can block entry on the day.
• Reschedule rules and arrival times are reported to vary between sources. Read the terms on your Prometric confirmation.
• A no-show is reported not to count as a failed attempt, but fees are generally not refunded.

Stage 5: Sit the exam and read your result in Sheryan

Most candidates sit a CBT. Chapter 5 covers the format and chapter 12 covers the day itself. After the test your result is reported as pass or fail in Sheryan, often within a few working days. Some titles are assessed orally instead. DHA's FAQ gives the oral assessment as 30 to 45 minutes for physicians and dentists and 20 to 30 minutes for other categories.

Stage 6: Submit your DHA application and pay the fees

The online application opens after verification and any required assessment are complete. You complete the form, upload documents and pay the fees DHA lists. DHA lists a recent passport photo, a passport copy and, for surgical specialties, a logbook, along with the verified credentials. Save the application reference number the moment it appears.

Stage 7: Receive registration and have your facility activate it

DHA reviews the file and may ask for an oral assessment depending on the position. When approved you are added to the Dubai Medical Registry and receive registration. DHA says a healthcare facility must activate that registration into a licence before you can practise, so you need an employer, or a facility that will sponsor you, to finish the job. See chapter 14 for what happens next.

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The documents you will need

Almost every delay in this process starts with a document. Collect the slow ones first, scan them well and keep your name consistent everywhere.

The list below combines what DHA publishes with what candidates commonly report. Your title may add items or remove some, so treat it as a starting point and check the requirements for your profession. Your ticks are saved in this browser only, and the page prints cleanly if you want a paper copy.

Getting the good standing certificate right

This is the document that most often holds people up. DHA says it must be dated no more than six months before you submit, and it must be issued by the same authority that issued your licence. It reports any disciplinary or administrative actions. Ask for it late enough that it will still be fresh when your application opens, but early enough that a slow regulator does not stall you. If you have worked for under three months at your last post and a certificate cannot be issued, DHA's manual says a certificate from your last facility may be presented.

Writing experience letters that verify cleanly

A letter that cannot be verified is worth nothing. Ask each employer for a signed letter on letterhead that names you exactly as on your passport, your job title, the unit, your start and end dates, and whether you worked full time or part time. Ask for a named contact and a working phone number or email, because DataFlow contacts them directly. Explain any gap between posts before the verifier finds it.

Scanning, naming and translating

• Scan in colour, at a readable resolution, with all four corners visible and no shadows.
• Name files clearly, for example surname-degree-certificate, so you can find them in a hurry.
• Keep your originals safe, because DHA asks for original documents and some issuers will not reissue quickly.
• If a document is not in English or Arabic, get a certified legal translation and scan both together.
• Check that dates, spellings and your name appear the same in every document. A different spelling of your name is the quietest way to lose a month.

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The exam itself: format, length and scoring

Most DHA computer-based tests are multiple-choice papers of 150 questions in three hours, and that time includes registration and the introduction. The pass score and length are set per title and DHA can change them, so treat our planning numbers as a starting point only.

DeliveryOfficial

Computer-based test at a Prometric test centre. DHA describes Prometric as its partner for these tests.

Question styleOfficial

DHA's CBT guideline says the format is multiple-choice questions and nothing more. It does not state single best answer or how many options there are. Candidates commonly call them single best answer, and our own questions use that format as a planning format.

Sample questions, unscored items and negative markingReported

DHA publishes no sample questions, and the documents we read do not mention unscored items or negative marking. Treat any claim about them as unconfirmed.

Physicians and specialistsOfficial

DHA's CBT guideline (Sep 2026): General Practice is 150 questions in 3 hours at 60 percent. Most specialist exams are 150 questions in 3 hours, with pass scores from 55 to 70 percent depending on the title. Hematopathology and the consultant exams are 100 questions, and consultants are 70 percent. Some titles use an oral assessment instead.

Registered nursesOfficial

DHA's CBT guideline (Sep 2026): 150 questions in 3 hours and a pass score of 50 percent. Assistant Nurse is also 150 questions at 50 percent. Registered Midwife is a separate exam with its own code and content list, also 150 questions at 50 percent, so do not use nursing material alone for it.

Pass markOfficial

Set by DHA for each title and not the same for everyone. The CBT guideline prints figures from 45 to 70 percent depending on the title: for example nurse 50, general practitioner 60, general dentist 60, pharmacist 60, specialist physicians 55 to 70. DHA can change the pass score without updating the guideline, so read the current copy for your own title. The pass mark and format for every title are on one page, with the date we checked them.

Time and resultsOfficial

The three hours include registration, the process introduction and the exam content, so the time for answering is less than three hours. Results are pass or fail only, and DHA does not share your score or a topic review. DHA's sources disagree on when a result appears: the manual says within 2 working days, and the Sheryan FAQ says Prometric results are shared instantly. The exam is in English.

AttemptsOfficial

For a new applicant, DHA's Assessment Manual allows three attempts per position, and DHA can reduce that to one or two if a major competency gap is found. After a third failure you are blocked from reapplying for two years. A fourth attempt is possible with a declaration letter about attempts at other UAE authorities, but not for consultant upgrades. A new set of three opens after a further recognised qualification or at least two years of licensed experience since the last attempt. There is no waiting period between attempts, subject to availability, and failed attempts at any UAE authority must be declared. A cancelled or missed exam does not count as a failed attempt, and the fee is not refunded.

Booking, arrival and validityOfficial

You can reschedule or cancel up to five calendar days before the exam. Arrive 30 minutes before your appointment with a valid passport that matches your registration. Sharing exam questions is not allowed and carries legal consequences. A pass gives a registration certificate valid for one year from the result date, and a pass older than two years may need a new assessment if there is a gap in practice.

FeesOfficial

Published by DHA in Sheryan and its guideline. We do not quote a figure because it changes. Check the official page.

Meddex planning formatMeddex figure

150 questions in 3 hours, which is 72 seconds per question if you used all of the time, marked against a planning target of 60 percent (50 percent in the nurse mock, to match the Registered Nurse score). We chose a demanding target so you practise with headroom. It is not a prediction of your result, and our single-best-answer format is our own planning format.

CBT or oral assessment

DHA assesses some candidates by oral interview rather than a CBT. The oral assessment is shorter and conversational, and it asks you to reason through clinical and professional scenarios. If your title uses the oral route, practise explaining your thinking aloud, because the scoring is on judgement as much as facts. The exam format article and the passing score article go deeper on both.

What you can and cannot know about scoring

DHA does not publish a single pass mark for everyone, so any website that gives one number for the whole exam is simplifying. The CBT guideline prints a pass score for each title, from 45 to 70 percent, and DHA says it can change the content, format or pass score without updating the document. DHA calculates your result from the number of correct answers and the weighting of each domain, but it does not publish the weights. You get a pass or fail, not a score, and a Learning Outcome letter from Prometric gives only general strengths and weaknesses. Practise to a score comfortably above the figure for your own title, then confirm the actual requirement before exam day.

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What the exam tests and how the questions work

Meddex groups preparation into 10 domains. They are a study map we built, not the official DHA blueprint, and your title may weigh them differently.

How a single-best-answer question works

DHA says only that the exam is multiple choice, so this is the format we practise with, not a description of an official sample. A stem describes a patient or a situation. A lead-in asks what to do, what is most likely or what comes first. Several options follow. More than one may be true, but only one is best for this patient right now. Success comes from ranking, not from recognising a fact.

1. Read the last line first, so you know what you are being asked.
2. Read the stem and underline the patient, the problem and the time pressure in your head.
3. Cover the options and say your own answer before you look.
4. Remove options that are unsafe, outside your scope or not relevant now.
5. Choose the option that fixes the most immediate threat to the patient, using airway, breathing and circulation, then safety, then the rest.
6. Watch for words like first, best, priority, immediately and most likely, because they change the answer.

The single-best-answer technique article and the syllabus by subject article have worked examples. Remember that Meddex questions are original practice material, and our single-best-answer format is our own planning format. We never use real or leaked exam questions, and neither should you.

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How to prepare: strategy and study plans

A good plan is simple enough to survive a bad week. Start with a baseline, choose your timeline, then protect small daily blocks.

1. 1
   Take a baseline

   Do a short mixed quiz, such as the free Meddex assessment, before you read anything. Note your weakest domains.

2. 2
   Pick a timeline backwards from your target date

   Count back from the date you hope to sit, not from today. If verification is still running, your exam date is not fixed, so aim for readiness rather than a date.

3. 3
   Decide your weekly hours honestly

   Many candidates plan around 8 to 12 hours a week. Fewer hours means a longer plan, not a skipped plan.

4. 4
   Choose one main source per domain

   One textbook or guide per domain, plus your question bank. More books create the feeling of progress without the memory of it.

5. 5
   Schedule the retrieval work first

   Questions and flashcards before extra reading, every day. Reading fills the gaps that questions expose.

6. 6
   Review weekly

   Once a week, look at your accuracy by domain and move your next week toward what is weakest.

Working nights? The night-shift study article and the how long to prepare article will help you set expectations.

Study plans for 4, 8 and 12 weeks

Pick the plan that fits the weeks you actually have, then change it when your results say so. Each one ends with timed mocks and a light last week.

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Using question banks, mocks and an error log

Questions are not only for checking what you know. Answering them is one of the strongest ways to learn it, if you review each one properly.

Tutor mode first, timed mode later

Early on, use untimed practice with feedback after each question. Read the rationale for the right answer and for each wrong option, because the wrong options are where the distinctions are taught. Move to timed sets once you are answering most of your target domains reliably, then to full mocks.

Use mocks to train for the day, not to collect scores

• Sit a full mock in one sitting, in a quiet room, with no phone or notes. The planning pace is 72 seconds per question.
• Flag a hard question after a minute or so and move on. Return to flagged questions at the end.
• Take your first mock about two to three weeks before the exam, and a second a week later.
• Spend as much time reviewing a mock as you spent taking it. The review is where the points are.
• Do not chase a perfect score. A steady pattern across domains is a better sign than one good day.

Keep an error log

An error log is a simple table of what you got wrong and why. It turns random mistakes into a pattern you can fix. Write down the cause honestly, because the fix depends on it.

Label each error as a knowledge gap, a misread, a rushed answer or a lucky guess. Knowledge gaps become flashcards. Misreads need a slower first read. Rushed answers need pacing practice. Lucky guesses need review even though you scored the point. The mistake review article and the mock tests article expand on this.

There is research behind this approach. In a widely cited 2006 study, Roediger and Karpicke found that students who tested themselves on material remembered more after two days and a week than students who spent the same time rereading it, even though the rereaders felt more confident. A review by Larsen, Butler and Roediger in 2008 argued that testing is a useful learning tool in medical education too. These studies are mostly laboratory and classroom work, not licensing exams, so read them as encouragement to practise, not as a guarantee.

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Flashcards, spaced repetition and memory techniques

Read a fact once and most of it is gone within days. Flashcards and spaced review keep the important ones until exam day.

Flashcards are useful for facts you must recall without a clue: antidotes, normal values, drug classes, algorithms, precautions. They are not a substitute for questions, which train reasoning. Use both. The flashcards versus question banks article explains how.

What the research says, in modest terms

• Cepeda, Pashler, Vul, Wixted and Rohrer (2006, Psychological Bulletin) reviewed 839 assessments of distributed practice from 317 experiments. They found that spreading study over time generally helps retention, and that the best gap between study sessions grows as the time until the test grows.
• Roediger and Karpicke (2006, Psychological Science) found that repeated self-testing beat restudying on tests taken two days and a week later, while restudying did better on a test taken five minutes later.
• Dunlosky and colleagues (2013, Psychological Science in the Public Interest) reviewed ten study techniques and rated practice testing and distributed practice as the most useful, while rereading and highlighting rated low.
• These findings come mostly from lab and classroom studies with students. None of them tested the DHA exam, and none promises a pass.

A spaced review routine you can actually keep

A simple schedule is better than a perfect one. Review a new card the same day, then again after about one day, three days, a week, two weeks and a month. If you get a card wrong, it goes back to the start. These intervals are a practical rule of thumb of ours, not a prescription from a study. In Meddex flashcards you mark each card known or needs review and the app schedules the next review for you.

Memory techniques that help

• Retrieve before you reveal. Say the answer aloud, then flip the card.
• One fact per card. A card with five facts is five cards you will fail together.
• Cloze deletion. Hide one key word in a sentence, such as the antidote or the first-line action.
• Mnemonics for short lists. Established ones such as SBAR for handover, ABCDE for assessment, FAST for stroke signs and RACE for fire response save effort. Write your own for anything you keep forgetting.
• Memory palace for ordered lists. Place the items along a route you know well. Use it sparingly, because the Dunlosky review rated imagery-based techniques low for broad learning, though they can help with specific lists.
• Interleave. Mix domains in your question sets once the basics are in place, so you practise choosing the right approach and not just repeating one.
• Teach it back. Explain a topic to a colleague or an empty room in two minutes. Where you stumble is what to review.

More on this in the spaced repetition for clinicians article. To see whether your effort is paying off, use the progress tracking view to watch accuracy by domain rise.

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Reading and resources

You do not need a shelf of books. Choose one reliable source per area, add official documents, and use questions to find the gaps.

The titles below are well-known references, named as examples. Editions change, and no textbook is required by DHA. Use the edition your library or employer provides, and prefer your own professional training materials when they are good.

For every area, one primary source is enough. Read it by topic when a question exposes a gap, not cover to cover. Meddex also publishes plain-language guides in the blog, such as how to pass the DHA exam, DHA exam dosage calculations, infection control revision and medication safety revision. They are original guides, not official material.

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The last hours before the exam

You cannot take your phone into the test room. That makes the hour or two before check-in the last real chance to revise, and it happens on your phone, outside.

Test centres normally ask you to lock phones and bags away before you go in, so check your booking confirmation for the exact rule. Anything you want fresh in your head has to go in beforehand. Most people spend that time scrolling notes in a panic, or not revising at all and watching the clock. Neither helps much.

What to revise in the final hour or two

• High-yield flashcards only: the ones you got wrong this month, not the whole deck.
• Normal values you must know cold, such as vital signs and common laboratory ranges for your role.
• Red flags that change what you do first: deterioration signs, sepsis, stroke signs, airway threats.
• Your own short list of traps, for example misreading the last line or choosing the comfortable answer over the safe one.
• No new topics. If you do not know it by now, one more look will not fix it.

This is why Meddex is adding a mobile-first pre-exam revision mode called Final Hour. It is being built now and is not available yet. The idea is a short, phone-friendly session made of high-yield flashcards, normal values, red flags and a calm checklist, so the last stretch outside the centre has a plan.

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Exam day, from the night before to walking out

Most of exam day is logistics and nerves. Sort the logistics and the nerves have less to work with.

Arrival time and a matching passport come from DHA's Assessment Manual. Breaks and what you may carry are set by Prometric and the test centre, and guides report them differently, so read your own booking confirmation and the Prometric rules for your centre. If your name on the booking and passport differ, fix it before the day, because turning up with the wrong ID can mean a lost fee. The exam day checklist article and test centre day guide have more detail.

Nerves are normal. A little adrenaline helps. If it tips into panic, slow your breathing and go back to a method: last line, stem, your own answer, options. The exam anxiety article has practical techniques.

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Common mistakes and what to do if it goes wrong

Most setbacks are the same few, and most can be fixed. Know them now, so you know your next move when one happens.

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After you pass: registration, licence and renewal

Passing is not the end of the paperwork. Registration, activation and renewal still follow.

1. 1
   Complete the application

   Submit the online form with your verified credentials and pay DHA's fees. Keep your reference number.

2. 2
   DHA reviews your file

   DHA may ask for an oral assessment for some positions. Answer messages in Sheryan quickly.

3. 3
   Receive registration

   You are added to the Dubai Medical Registry. DHA describes registration as valid for one year, and your facility must activate it into a licence before you practise.

4. 4
   Start work through your facility

   Your employer activates your licence. Do not treat patients before this is done.

5. 5
   Plan for renewal from day one

   Keep CPD records and certificates as you go, so renewal is a form and not a scramble.

Renewal and continuing professional development

DHA ties renewal to continuing professional development (CPD). The 2025 licensing manual sets annual targets of 40 points for physicians and dentists, 20 for nurses, 20 for pharmacists and 10 for allied health, and targets scale up for longer licence terms. A licence cannot be renewed if the required CPD has not been achieved. Points are uploaded in Sheryan with evidence of attendance or completion.

• At least 70 percent of your points should relate to your specialty, and up to 30 percent can be general professional development.
• The manual says online activities can count towards the full target when they relate to your specialty.
• Points above the target are not carried forward to the next renewal in the 2025 manual.
• These figures come from the latest manual we found and DHA revises it. Confirm the current numbers in Sheryan before you plan.

If you are moving to Dubai from abroad, the nurse licensing roadmap article and the DHA licence documents and timeline article add practical context. Residency applicants should also read the EMREE guide.

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