DHA general practitioner assessment at a glance
| Item | Detail | Source basis |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment code | GEN5331, general practice physician | DHA guideline |
| Questions and duration | 150 MCQs, 3 hours, computer-based at a Prometric centre | DHA guideline |
| Pass score | 60 per cent; pass or fail only, numeric score not disclosed | DHA guideline |
| Fee | USD 280; no refunds under any circumstances | DHA guideline and Prometric DHA |
| Booking route | Sheryan registration, DHA Unique ID, eligibility ID, then Prometric scheduling | DHA guideline |
| Exemptions | Available against the Professional Qualification Requirements in the DHA licensing manual | DHA guideline |
Prometric delivers the assessment through a network the DHA guideline describes as over 8,000 centres in more than 160 countries, so the test can be taken from the candidate's home country. Certain consultant-level physician and dentistry roles are assessed by oral examination instead of computer-based testing; general practice is not one of them.
Source: DHA Assessment Guideline · Prometric DHA
Dates and windows
| What | When | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Exam sitting | Rolling — book on demand at a Prometric centre once the Sheryan eligibility ID is issued | Rolling |
| Sheryan registration and DHA Unique ID | Before eligibility can be generated; no fixed cycle | Rolling |
| Primary source verification | Runs in parallel with the licensing pathway; confirms credentials with issuing bodies but does not by itself establish eligibility | Rolling |
| Result notification | Pass or fail posted to the Sheryan account; no numeric score released | Confirmed |
| Licence activation | After the assessment, by an eligible DHA-licensed facility, as reported by Examcure | Tentative |
| Refunds and cancellations | No refunds issued under any circumstances | Confirmed |
| UAE National Unified Digital Platform | Expected second quarter of 2026, reported by Gulf News in August 2025; DHA route still current at the time of writing | Tentative |
| Prometric holiday closures 2026 | Includes 1 January, 19 March, 25 to 28 May, 15 June and 25 to 26 August | Confirmed |
There is no examination calendar for the DHA general practitioner assessment. Seats are booked on demand through Prometric, so the only fixed points are the Sheryan prerequisites, the published centre closure dates and the no-refund rule.
What this means for your preparation
The most damaging assumption about this exam is that passing it produces a licence. It does not. The DHA assessment is one stage in a pathway that also requires eligibility review, primary source verification, professional registration through Sheryan and licence activation by an eligible DHA-licensed facility. Doctors who pass and then discover they have no employer to activate the licence have completed a test, not a transfer.
Pass or fail, with no score to carry
The DHA guideline is explicit that the outcome posted to the Sheryan account is a pass or fail status and that individual scores are not disclosed. For general practice the threshold is 60 per cent of 150 questions, which is 90 items, though pilot or unscored items are not described in the guideline. Because no number is released, there is nothing to improve and no reason to resit after a pass, which is the opposite of the Saudi model. The practical effect is that preparation should target a comfortable margin over the threshold rather than a maximal score, and that a narrow pass is worth exactly as much as a wide one.
Check the code before buying question banks
The guideline identifies general practice physicians as GEN5331 and sets out a per-specialty table in which duration, question count, fee and pass score all vary. Most specialties sit at three hours and 150 questions, but fees run from USD 180 to USD 280 and pass scores from about 60 to 70 per cent depending on the title. Some consultant-level physician and dentistry roles are assessed orally rather than by computer-based testing. Candidates should confirm the code that appears on their own eligibility before purchasing preparation material, since a bank built for a different specialty code will be weighted wrongly even where the format matches.
Exemptions are a real route worth checking first
The guideline states that exemptions from the assessment are available on the basis of the Professional Qualification Requirements criteria in the DHA licensing manual. Candidates holding certain recognised postgraduate qualifications or coming from particular jurisdictions may not need to sit the test at all. Checking the current Professional Qualification Requirements against your own credentials costs nothing and can remove a USD 280 non-refundable fee and several weeks of revision. Examcure notes that eligibility differs between applicants and that another doctor's outcome is not evidence that the same pathway applies, which is the correct way to read any exemption claim on a forum.
The consolidation changes the platform, not the syllabus
Gulf News reported in August 2025 that a National Unified Digital Platform covering MoHAP, the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, the Dubai Health Authority and the Sharjah Health Authority was expected in the second quarter of 2026, with the design phase complete, serving roughly 200,000 practitioners a year and enabling mutual recognition of evaluations between entities. The reported scope is standardising the evaluation of certificates, experience, qualifications and assessment titles, and removing repeated document submission when moving between emirates. Nothing in that report indicates a change to the assessment content or pass score, and Prometric's DHA page still names the Dubai Health Authority as the administering body.
Sequence the file so the fee is the last thing you spend
The pathway runs Sheryan registration, DHA Unique ID, eligibility ID, then Prometric scheduling. Primary source verification confirms credentials with the original issuing organisations but does not by itself establish eligibility, so a completed verification is not permission to book. Given that the DHA and Prometric issue no refunds under any circumstances, the seat should be the last commitment made, after eligibility is confirmed and revision is at standard. The DHA also reserves the right to activate or deactivate a specialty assessment and to change its content, format or pass score, so verify the current specification in Sheryan rather than relying on a saved copy.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
How many questions is the DHA GP exam and what is the pass mark?
The DHA healthcare professional licensing assessment guideline lists general practice physicians under code GEN5331 with 150 multiple-choice questions over three hours and a pass score of 60 per cent. The fee is USD 280. Results are released as pass or fail in the applicant's Sheryan account and individual scores are not disclosed, so there is no numeric result to quote in later applications or to improve by resitting.
Who runs the exam now, given the UAE licensing changes?
The Dubai Health Authority. Prometric's current DHA exam page names the Dubai Health Authority, established in June 2007 under Law 13, as the administering body and directs candidates to generate eligibility at services.dha.gov.ae. Gulf News reported in August 2025 that a National Unified Digital Platform bringing together MoHAP, the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, the DHA and the Sharjah Health Authority was expected in the second quarter of 2026, but the DHA remains the named authority for this assessment.
How do I book the exam?
Register in the Sheryan system, obtain a DHA Unique ID, generate an eligibility ID and then schedule the test through Prometric. The assessment is computer based and delivered through a network the DHA guideline describes as over 8,000 centres in more than 160 countries, so it can be sat outside the UAE. Prometric handles scheduling, rescheduling and cancellation, and both Prometric and the DHA operate a strict no-refund policy on the fee.
Does passing the exam give me a licence to practise in Dubai?
No. Examcure describes the pathway as five separate stages: eligibility review, primary source verification, completing the assessment, professional registration through Sheryan, and licence activation by an eligible DHA-licensed facility. The assessment is one stage. Primary source verification confirms credentials with the original issuing organisations but does not by itself determine eligibility, and the final activation step requires an employing facility, so a pass without an offer does not produce an active licence.
Can I be exempted from the DHA assessment?
Possibly. The DHA guideline states that exemptions are available based on the Professional Qualification Requirements criteria set out in the DHA licensing manual, which take account of qualifications and background. Because the criteria are applied to the individual file, another doctor's exemption is not evidence that yours will be granted. Checking the current requirements against your own credentials before paying the non-refundable USD 280 fee is the cheapest step in the whole process.
Is the exam the same for every specialty?
No. The guideline sets out specifications per specialty. Most follow the same shape of three hours and 150 multiple-choice questions, but fees range from about USD 180 to USD 280 and pass scores typically from 60 to 70 per cent depending on the title, and certain consultant-level physician and dentistry roles are assessed by oral examination instead of computer-based testing. The DHA also reserves the right to activate or deactivate a specialty assessment and to change content, format or pass score.
