Checked 29 September 2026. From DHA's Online Exam Guideline – CBT, updated September 2026. The guideline says DHA may change an exam's content or pass score without updating the document, so re-check it before booking.
The DHA General Practitioner exam is one computer-based test, code GEN5331, scheduled through Prometric at an available test-centre appointment. DHA describes it in a single page of its Online Exam Guideline – CBT, updated in September 2026: the format, the pass mark, the fee, twelve coverage areas and ten reference books. Everything else you read about the exam — subject percentages, a 165-minute clock, negative marking — comes from somewhere else. This guide separates the two.
Where other pages get this wrong
DHA publishes 12 coverage areas for the GP exam and no subject weights. Any percentage split you see is somebody else's estimate.
Commonly published instead: "Internal medicine 35–40%, surgery 20–25%, paediatrics 20–25%, obstetrics and gynaecology 15–20%", and "a time limit of 165 minutes".
The September 2026 guideline lists twelve areas with no weights, and a duration of 3 hours that "includes registration and introduction". DHA's assessment manual (7.2.13) adds that results are calculated from the number of correct answers and the weighting of each domain — a weighting it does not publish.
DHA Online Exam Guideline – CBT, updated September 2026.
The format, from the guideline and the manuals
| Item | DHA GP | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Exam title and code | General Practice, GEN5331 | CBT guideline |
| Questions | 150 | CBT guideline |
| Duration | 3 hours, including registration and introduction | CBT guideline |
| Pass score | 60% | CBT guideline |
| Fee | USD 280 (Amex, MasterCard or Visa) | CBT guideline; assessment manual 7.2.4 |
| Language | English | PQR 1.5.3.1 |
| Delivery | Prometric test centre; no remote option listed | CBT guideline; Prometric DHA page |
| Result | Pass or fail only; the score is not shared | CBT guideline; assessment manual 4.6 |
| When | On Sheryan within 2 working days (manual); "shared instantly" (DHA FAQ) | Assessment manual 7.2.14; Sheryan FAQ |
| How it is scored | Number of correct answers and the weighting of each domain | Assessment manual 7.2.13 |
| Negative marking | Not stated either way | Not in any DHA document we read |
| Arrival | 30 minutes before the appointment, with a passport matching Sheryan | Assessment manual 7.2.5, 7.2.10 |
| Reschedule or cancel | At least 5 calendar days before; centre-specific charge | Assessment manual 7.2.7–7.2.9 |
Two lines in that table change how you should prepare. The three hours include registration and the introduction, so the answering time is less than 180 minutes — under 72 seconds a question on our arithmetic. And a fail comes with no score, so a narrow miss and a wide one look the same; after the test Prometric hands you a "Learning Outcome" letter that shows general strengths and weaknesses but is not the result.
Where 60% sits among DHA's physician exams
DHA Online Exam Guideline – CBT, September 2026. Consultant exams are 100 questions at 70%.
| Exam | Code | Questions | Time | Fee | Pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Practice | GEN5331 | 150 | 3 h | USD 280 | 60% |
| Specialist Sports Medicine | SPM5792 | 150 | 3 h | USD 280 | 55% |
| Specialist Family Medicine | FAM5871 | 150 | 3 h | USD 280 | 60% |
| Specialist Internal Medicine | INT5921 | 150 | 3 h | USD 280 | 60% |
| Specialist Emergency Medicine | EME5531 | 150 | 3 h | USD 280 | 60% |
| Specialist General Surgery | GEN5341 | 150 | 3 h | USD 280 | 65% |
| Specialist Psychiatry | PSY5961 | 150 | 3 h | USD 280 | 65% |
| Specialist Pediatrics | PED5391 | 150 | 3 h | USD 280 | 70% |
| Specialist Neurosurgery | NEU5311 | 150 | 3 h | USD 280 | 70% |
| Laser Hair Reduction – Privilege | LHR6103 | 70 | 2 h | USD 180 | 60% |
Every physician exam in the guideline costs USD 280 except Laser Hair Reduction at USD 180; across the whole guideline, including nursing and allied titles, fees are USD 180, 240 or 280 and pass marks run from 45% to 70%. GP sits at 60%, below several specialist exams at 65% or 70% — though a pass mark alone does not tell you how hard a separately written paper is. What the guideline does show is breadth: twelve coverage areas that range from psychiatry to epidemiology, with ten reference books.
The 12 coverage areas
These are DHA's headings, in DHA's order. The middle column is our reading of what each covers, taken from the reference books on the same page. DHA publishes no weight, question count or topic list under any heading.
| # | DHA area | What it covers (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chronic Diseases | Hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, asthma and COPD, chronic kidney disease, long-term follow-up |
| 2 | Acute and/or Common Medical Problems | Infections, fever, chest pain, abdominal pain, headache and the undifferentiated patient |
| 3 | Common Pediatric Problems | Growth and development, immunisation, common childhood infections, neonatal problems |
| 4 | Women Health | Antenatal care, contraception, menstrual disorders, menopause, common gynaecology |
| 5 | Emergency Problems | Resuscitation, anaphylaxis, acute coronary syndrome, poisoning, trauma first steps |
| 6 | Common Surgical Problems | Acute abdomen, hernia, breast lumps, minor surgery, when to refer |
| 7 | Common Psychiatric Problems | Depression, anxiety, psychosis, substance use, suicide risk |
| 8 | Common Eye and ENT Problems | Red eye, visual loss, otitis, sinusitis, sore throat, vertigo |
| 9 | Common Derma Problems | Eczema, psoriasis, acne, skin infections, suspicious lesions |
| 10 | Basic Epidemiology and EBM Concepts | Study designs, sensitivity and specificity, predictive values, bias, critical appraisal |
| 11 | Family Medicine Concepts | Continuity of care, the consultation, prescribing, referral, ethics |
| 12 | Screening and Periodic Health Examination | Cancer screening, adult and child health checks, prevention |
Four of the twelve — psychiatry, eye and ENT, epidemiology and evidence-based medicine and family medicine concepts — are exactly the areas a plan built on "medicine, surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics" leaves out. That four-subject split is where the circulating percentages come from, and it is not DHA's structure.
The 10 reference books
| # | Reference (as DHA lists it) | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toronto Notes (the guideline says "Canadian ED Edition") | Whole of medicine, review format |
| 2 | Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine, 22nd edition | Internal medicine |
| 3 | Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 19th edition | Internal medicine |
| 4 | Kumar and Clark's Clinical Medicine, 9th edition | Internal medicine |
| 5 | Hacker and Moore's Essentials of Obstetrics and Gynecology | Obstetrics and gynaecology |
| 6 | Current Diagnosis and Treatment Obstetrics and Gynecology, 11th edition | Obstetrics and gynaecology |
| 7 | Gynaecology by Ten Teachers, 20th edition | Gynaecology |
| 8 | Llewellyn-Jones Fundamentals of Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Obstetrics and gynaecology |
| 9 | Bernstein and Shelov, Pediatrics for Medical Students | Paediatrics |
| 10 | Nelson Essentials of Pediatrics, 7th edition | Paediatrics |
Three things stand out. The list is heavy on medicine, obstetrics and paediatrics and names no dedicated surgery, psychiatry, ophthalmology, dermatology or epidemiology textbook, even though those are coverage areas; DHA does not map any book to any area. On our reading, Toronto Notes, a review book organised by specialty, is the broadest single listed source for those areas. Several editions are old (Harrison's 19th, Davidson's 22nd); our advice is to check current guidelines wherever an old edition may be out of date, since DHA does not say which it marks against. And the same ten titles appear on the Saudi SMLE reference list, which adds another paediatrics book, three surgery books and four patient-safety, prevention and ethics references, so preparation for one carries over to the other.
What 60% means in practice
| Question | Answer | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Correct answers needed | About 90 of 150 if every question counted equally | Our arithmetic; DHA says domains are weighted and does not publish the weights |
| Time per question | Under 72 seconds | Our arithmetic: 180 minutes less registration and introduction |
| Score after a fail | None — pass or fail only | Official |
| Unscored or pilot questions | Not stated | Not found |
| Negative marking | Not stated | Not found; a coaching claim of "no negative marking" is not a DHA statement |
Figures that circulate, and what DHA says
| Circulating claim | What DHA publishes |
|---|---|
| Subject weights: IM 35–40%, surgery 20–25%, paediatrics 20–25%, OBG 15–20% (gulfmedexams) | Twelve areas, no weights |
| Time limit of 165 minutes (Edoxi) | 3 hours, including registration and introduction |
| Application fee AED 1,020 and "AED 2,520 for examination fees" (Edoxi) | Exam USD 280 to Prometric. Sheryan charges vary by service: Review Registration Eligibility and Get Registered are AED 200 each, licence activation is priced separately, and Knowledge and Innovation fees are added |
| No negative marking | Nothing either way |
| Prometric holiday closures in 2026 | Prometric's list is of days its customer service lines are closed, not test-centre closures |
| DHA fees range USD 180–280 and pass scores 60–70% | Fees are USD 180, 240 or 280; physician pass scores go down to 55% (Sports Medicine), guideline-wide 45–70% |
Booking and the day itself
What DHA's assessment manual and Prometric say
- Book with the Eligibility ID generated from your DHA Unique ID in Sheryan, at prometric.com/DHA; pay by Amex, MasterCard or Visa.
- Arrive 30 minutes early with a valid passport whose name matches your Sheryan record; if it does not, contact DHA at least 5 days before the exam.
- Reschedule or cancel at least 5 calendar days before, on the Prometric site; the charge is set per centre and not published.
- Refunds: fees are non-refundable, including for rescheduling, cancellation and no-show (manual 4.24); Prometric states a "strict no-refund policy".
- A no-show or cancellation is not a failed attempt (licensing manual 7.11), but the fee is gone.
DHA Manual for Professional Assessment v1.1, 4.24 and 7.2; Prometric DHA page, read 29 September 2026.
Practise it, don't just read it
With twelve areas and no published weights, the fastest way to find your weak ones is to test each of them.
The ProSyllabus DHA GP library has eight 10-question topic quizzes: Cardiovascular and Respiratory Medicine, Endocrine, Renal and Gastrointestinal Medicine, Pediatrics and Child Health, Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women's Health, Emergency and Acute Care, Infectious Disease and Antimicrobials, Dermatology, ENT and Common Primary-Care Presentations, and Preventive Medicine and Ethics. Each question comes with an explanation.
How many questions are in the DHA GP exam?
150, according to DHA's CBT guideline updated September 2026.
What is the passing score for the DHA GP exam?
60%. The result is reported as pass or fail; DHA does not share the score.
How long is the DHA GP exam?
3 hours, and DHA says that includes registration and the introduction, so the answering time is shorter.
What is the DHA GP exam fee?
USD 280, paid to Prometric by card. Sheryan registration fees are separate.
What is the code of the DHA GP exam?
GEN5331, listed as General Practice.
What are the subject weights of the DHA GP exam?
DHA does not publish any. It lists twelve coverage areas; percentages on coaching sites are their estimates.
Which books should I read for the DHA GP exam?
DHA lists ten: Toronto Notes, Davidson's, Harrison's, Kumar and Clark, Hacker and Moore, Current Diagnosis and Treatment OBG, Gynaecology by Ten Teachers, Llewellyn-Jones, Bernstein and Shelov, and Nelson Essentials of Pediatrics.
Is there negative marking in the DHA exam?
DHA's guideline and manuals do not mention it either way. The assessment manual says results are based on the number of correct answers and the weighting of each domain.
When do I get the DHA exam result?
DHA's assessment manual says pass or fail is uploaded to Sheryan within two working days; the Sheryan FAQ says Prometric results are shared instantly. Either way it arrives on Sheryan. The letter Prometric gives you after the test is a learning-outcome letter, not the result.
Can I take the DHA GP exam online from home?
Prometric's DHA page lists only test-centre delivery; we found no remote option.
Is the DHA GP exam the same as the SMLE?
No. They share the same ten reference books, but the SMLE has 200 questions and a scaled pass mark of 560, while DHA's is 150 questions at 60%.
Is the DHA exam harder than the specialist exams?
DHA publishes no difficulty comparison. By pass mark, GP is at 60% while several specialist exams are at 65% or 70%, but a pass mark alone does not make one paper easier. The GP exam lists twelve coverage areas.
More in this series
Sources
- official — DHA Online Exam Guideline – CBT (updated Sep 2026)
- official — DHA Manual for Professional Assessment v1.1 (effective 08/05/2025)
- official — DHA Sheryan — FAQs (read 29 Sep 2026)
- official — DHA Manual for Licensing Healthcare Professionals v1.3 (effective 18/07/2025)
- official — Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements (PQR), 3rd version, April 2025
- official — Sheryan — Review Registration Eligibility (PQR)
- official — Sheryan — Get Registered (NRG)
- official — Prometric — Dubai Health Authority exams page (read 29 Sep 2026)
- official — SCFHS — SMLE Applicant Guide (2025)
- reported — gulfmedexams — DHA exam
- reported — Edoxi — guide on DHA exams for General Practitioner
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
