AI & Digital Health Questions Now on DHA and DOH Exams: How to Prepare (2026)

If you are preparing for the DHA Prometric exam or the Abu Dhabi DOH licensing exam in 2026, there is a content area that most study guides and question banks have not yet caught up to: artificial intelligence, telemedicine, and digital health governance. These topics have moved from peripheral to significant in the UAE healthcare licensing framework — and candidates who ignore them are handing away exam marks.

The shift is grounded in real policy developments. The Dubai Health Authority has published an AI Policy for Healthcare, and the Abu Dhabi Department of Health released its Responsible AI Standard in October 2025. These are not aspirational documents — they define the legal and ethical obligations of every licensed healthcare practitioner working with AI-assisted tools, digital systems, and telehealth platforms in the UAE. Regulators have decided that a licensed practitioner in 2026 must understand these obligations, and the exams now reflect that decision.

The 2025 DHA syllabus update introduced measurable weighting on three new domains: telemedicine operations and regulation, digital ethics and patient data privacy, and data sovereignty under UAE law. Candidates sitting the exam from January 2026 onwards are encountering questions in these areas. Many are surprised — not because the questions are conceptually difficult, but because they did not know to prepare for them.

This guide gives you a complete picture of what is being tested, why it matters, and exactly how to prepare. We cover the DHA Prometric exam and the DOH Abu Dhabi exam separately where their requirements diverge.

Before diving into the new content areas, it helps to have the current exam structure clearly in mind. As of 2026:

• Question count: 150 multiple-choice questions (MCQs)
• Time allowed: 170 minutes (approximately 68 seconds per question)
• Format: Single best answer from four options; no negative marking
• Passing score: Typically 50–65% correct, using scaled scoring. The exact passing threshold varies by profession — the DHA uses a compensatory scoring model where the difficulty of your specific question set is factored in.
• Delivery: Computer-based at authorised Prometric test centres in UAE, India, Philippines, Pakistan, UK, and other countries
• Retake policy: Candidates who fail may retake after a mandatory waiting period; multiple failures trigger a mandatory remediation program

The exam is designed to test applied clinical knowledge, not pure recall. Questions are presented as clinical scenarios or ethical situations where you must select the most appropriate action. This format is especially relevant to the new digital health content — questions about AI tools or telemedicine are almost always scenario-based, not definitional.

For a comprehensive preparation strategy covering all exam domains, see our guide on how to pass the DHA Prometric exam on your first attempt.

Telemedicine is now one of the most practically important and exam-relevant topics in UAE healthcare licensing. The UAE has a comprehensive regulatory framework for telehealth, and licensed practitioners are expected to understand it. Here is a breakdown of the specific content areas appearing on exams:

Jurisdictional and cross-emirate rules

The UAE does not have a single national telemedicine law. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and the Northern Emirates each regulate telehealth through their own authorities — DHA, DOH, and MOHAP respectively. A key area of exam focus is cross-emirate telehealth: if a patient in Abu Dhabi is consulting with a DHA-licensed doctor physically located in Dubai, which emirate's rules govern the interaction? The answer is not straightforward, and exam questions test whether candidates understand that the practitioner's license jurisdiction and the patient's location may each impose separate obligations.

Informed consent for telehealth

Telehealth consultations have specific informed consent requirements in the UAE. Patients must be informed that the consultation is occurring via a digital platform, must understand the limitations of remote assessment, and must explicitly consent to the telehealth format. Exam questions test understanding of when telehealth consent is sufficient versus when in-person assessment is required — for example, you cannot perform a full physical examination remotely, and certain clinical decisions must not be made without in-person evaluation.

Platform standards and data security during teleconsultation

DHA-licensed telehealth platforms must meet specific technical and security standards. Exam questions may present scenarios where a practitioner is asked to consult via an unapproved platform (e.g., a standard consumer video application rather than a licensed telehealth system) and test whether the candidate identifies this as a compliance breach. Understanding that the practitioner shares responsibility for platform compliance — not just the clinic or hospital — is a key tested concept.

Prescription via telemedicine

UAE regulations permit prescribing via telemedicine under defined conditions. Questions test knowledge of which medication categories can be prescribed remotely (most standard medications), which require in-person consultation before prescribing (controlled substances, certain high-risk medications), and documentation requirements for remote prescriptions.

The Abu Dhabi DOH's Responsible AI Standard (October 2025) and the DHA's AI Policy for Healthcare together form the regulatory backbone for AI ethics questions on both exams. These documents are publicly available and should be read — at least in summary form — by anyone sitting these exams in 2026.

Core AI ethics principles tested

Exam questions on AI ethics cluster around five themes that both regulatory frameworks emphasise:

1. Non-maleficence and oversight: AI systems in clinical settings must be supervised by qualified practitioners. A licensed clinician cannot abdicate clinical judgment to an AI tool. If an AI diagnostic system suggests a diagnosis that conflicts with your clinical assessment, the correct answer in exam scenarios is almost always to exercise independent clinical judgment and not automatically defer to the AI output.
2. Unbiased training data: The DHA AI Policy explicitly requires that AI systems used in UAE healthcare must be trained on datasets that are free from bias with respect to ethnicity, gender, age, and socioeconomic status. Exam questions may present scenarios involving an AI tool known to have lower accuracy for a particular demographic and test whether the practitioner identifies and acts on this limitation.
3. Transparency and explainability: Practitioners using AI-assisted diagnostics must be able to explain to patients, in plain language, that an AI tool was used and what role it played in the clinical decision. This is tested both as an informed consent requirement and as an ethical obligation.
4. Data minimisation: AI systems should use only the minimum patient data necessary for the intended clinical function. Questions may test recognition of over-collection of personal data by a clinical AI tool as a compliance breach.
5. Accountability: When an AI tool contributes to a clinical error, accountability rests with the licensed practitioner who used the tool — not with the AI vendor. This principle appears in scenario questions about adverse events involving AI diagnostic tools.

Informed consent for AI tools

Separate from general informed consent for treatment, the UAE frameworks require that patients be informed when AI tools will play a material role in their diagnosis or care planning, and that patients have the right to request human-only review. Exam scenarios test recognition of situations where AI consent has not been properly obtained and identification of the correct remediation step.

Data privacy and data sovereignty questions appear on both the DHA and DOH exams and are an area where many internationally trained candidates are caught off guard — the UAE framework has specific features that differ from HIPAA (US), GDPR (EU), or the frameworks in India, the Philippines, or Pakistan.

UAE data sovereignty

Data sovereignty refers to the principle that health data generated in the UAE about UAE patients must be stored and processed within UAE jurisdiction — it cannot be freely transferred to servers in other countries without specific conditions being met. This is a legally mandated requirement, not merely a best practice. Exam questions test recognition of scenarios where a cloud-based AI diagnostic tool processes patient data on servers outside the UAE without proper data transfer agreements as a regulatory violation.

Dubai Data Law and Abu Dhabi data regulations

Dubai has its own data protection regime under the Dubai Data Law, and Abu Dhabi operates under ADGM-level frameworks in some sectors alongside DOH-specific health data rules. For exam purposes, the key principles are: patient data is sensitive personal data with the highest protection tier; health data cannot be shared with third parties (including AI vendors) without explicit patient consent or a specific legal basis; patients have the right to access their health records in a digital format.

Breach response obligations

Exam scenarios test knowledge of what a practitioner must do when they become aware of a patient data breach involving a digital health system. The correct sequence: contain the breach where possible; notify the facility's data protection officer or information governance lead immediately; document the breach; follow DHA or DOH mandatory reporting timelines (the DHA requires breach notification to the authority within 72 hours for significant breaches). Attempting to conceal a breach is specifically called out in regulatory guidance as a serious disciplinary matter.

Practical scenario example

A question might describe a nurse who discovers that a third-party telehealth app used by her clinic is automatically uploading consultation recordings to a server in a non-UAE jurisdiction without patient consent. The question asks what she should do. The correct answer involves immediately raising this with the facility's management and information governance lead, not simply continuing to use the system or unilaterally refusing to use it without escalation. Understanding the escalation and reporting pathway is as important as knowing the rule itself.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Health released its Responsible AI Standard in October 2025, making it one of the most current regulatory frameworks in the world for AI in clinical settings. If you are applying for a DOH license or practising in Abu Dhabi, this document is directly relevant to your practice and to your exam preparation.

Key elements of the DOH Responsible AI Standard

• Risk classification: AI tools used in clinical settings are classified by risk level — low, medium, and high. High-risk AI (such as AI diagnostic tools that inform treatment decisions) requires mandatory clinical validation in the UAE context, not just general CE marking or FDA clearance from other jurisdictions.
• Human oversight mandate: The standard explicitly prohibits fully autonomous clinical decision-making by AI systems. A qualified human practitioner must review and take responsibility for any AI-informed clinical decision.
• Audit trails: Healthcare facilities using AI tools must maintain audit trails of AI-assisted decisions, including which version of the AI model was used, what data was input, and what the AI output was. This supports post-incident review and regulatory inspection.
• Practitioner competency: The standard introduces the concept of AI literacy as a practitioner competency. Licensed practitioners using AI tools are expected to understand the tool's intended use, its validated performance range, and its known limitations. Using an AI tool outside its validated scope is a practitioner responsibility breach, not merely a vendor issue.
• Equity monitoring: Facilities are required to monitor AI tool performance across patient demographic groups and to report and address performance disparities. This operationalises the unbiased dataset requirement at the facility level.

For exam purposes, DOH candidates should be able to answer questions about how the Responsible AI Standard interacts with clinical practice. Scenario questions often test whether a practitioner correctly identifies a compliance gap — for example, a facility using a high-risk AI diagnostic tool that has not undergone UAE-specific clinical validation, or a scenario where an AI tool's audit log was not maintained.

For more on the Abu Dhabi licensing process and its specific requirements, see our guide on the DOH Abu Dhabi license.

Most commercial DHA and DOH question banks have not yet been updated to reflect the 2025 syllabus changes. This means you cannot rely on standard question bank practice to cover these topics — you need to supplement with targeted reading. Here is a practical approach:

Step 1: Read the primary regulatory documents

These are publicly available on the DHA and DOH websites. You do not need to memorise them verbatim, but you should read them once in full and take notes on the key obligations they place on practitioners:

• DHA AI Policy for Healthcare (available on dha.gov.ae)
• DOH Responsible AI Standard, October 2025 (available on doh.gov.ae)
• DHA Telehealth Regulations (the operative version, check the date)

Step 2: Map the content to clinical scenarios

After reading, create a list of the ten most common clinical scenarios the regulations address and articulate the correct practitioner response for each. Examples: What do you do if an AI diagnostic tool gives a result that conflicts with your clinical judgment? What is the correct response if a patient asks whether AI was used in their diagnosis? What steps do you take if you suspect a telehealth platform is storing data outside the UAE?

Step 3: Practice scenario-based questions

Look for question banks that are being updated for the 2025/2026 syllabus, or work with a preparation service that has current materials. Scenario-based practice — not flashcards — is the appropriate preparation method for this content. The exam tests reasoning and application, not memorisation of regulatory clause numbers.

Step 4: Understand the principles, not just the rules

Exam questions on novel technology topics often present situations the regulations do not address explicitly, testing whether you can apply the principles (non-maleficence, transparency, accountability, data minimisation, human oversight) to new scenarios. Candidates who understand why the regulations are structured the way they are perform better on unseen scenarios than candidates who have only memorised specific rules.

Time allocation within your study plan

We recommend allocating approximately 10–15% of your total DHA exam study time to digital health and AI content. This is not the majority of the exam — clinical knowledge remains the core — but it is a differentiating factor. Many candidates who fail the DHA Prometric exam by a narrow margin do so in exactly this kind of newer content area where preparation is thinner.

While DHA and DOH both regulate AI and digital health, there are meaningful differences in how each authority has approached the topic — differences that matter for your exam preparation and your clinical practice.

For the DHA exam, questions are more likely to test general principles of AI ethics and the telemedicine regulatory framework. For the DOH exam, expect more specific questions about the Responsible AI Standard's risk classification and audit requirements. If you are preparing for both, understand the DOH framework in detail — it is more comprehensive and the DHA framework is aligned with its principles even if less explicitly codified.

For a side-by-side comparison of DHA and DOH licensing processes more broadly, see our guide on DHA vs DOH vs MOHAP.

Based on current syllabus guidance and the regulatory frameworks, here are the most likely scenario types you will encounter. Understanding the pattern of these questions is as important as knowing the content.

Scenario type 1: AI output conflicts with clinical judgment

A physician uses an AI-assisted radiology tool that flags a chest X-ray as normal. The physician's clinical assessment suggests possible early consolidation. What should the physician do?

Correct answer pattern: Rely on independent clinical judgment, order additional investigation if warranted, document the AI output and the clinical decision made, and do not treat the AI output as definitive. The practitioner's professional obligation supersedes the AI output in all cases where there is clinical doubt.

Scenario type 2: Patient asks about AI in their care

A patient learns that an AI tool analysed their ECG and asks the nurse whether they can request that only a human cardiologist review their results. What is the correct response?

Correct answer pattern: The patient's right to human-only review must be respected and facilitated. The nurse should acknowledge the request, explain it will be escalated to the treating physician, and document the patient's preference. Dismissing the request or claiming it is impossible is incorrect.

Scenario type 3: Data storage compliance

A healthcare facility has implemented a new AI diagnostic platform. The IT manager informs you that patient data is processed on servers in Germany. A patient from Abu Dhabi asks about data privacy. What is the appropriate action?

Correct answer pattern: This is a potential data sovereignty compliance breach. The correct action is to escalate to the facility's information governance or compliance team, not to reassure the patient that everything is fine. The practitioner's role is to raise the concern through appropriate channels, not to resolve it unilaterally.

Scenario type 4: Telehealth prescription

A GP conducts a telehealth consultation with an established patient and determines the patient needs a short course of a controlled analgesic for acute pain. The patient is in Dubai. The GP is licensed in Dubai. Can the GP prescribe this medication via telehealth?

Correct answer pattern: No. Controlled substances require in-person evaluation before prescribing in the UAE. The GP should arrange an in-person consultation or refer the patient to an emergency/urgent care setting if the pain is acute.

At Neelim, we track DHA and DOH syllabus changes closely — it is a core part of how we serve candidates preparing for UAE healthcare licensing exams. The 2025 digital health and AI additions to the exam syllabus are an area where our clients have a material advantage over candidates relying solely on outdated study materials.

What we offer for exam preparation

• Updated study guides: We maintain profession-specific study guides aligned to the current DHA and DOH exam syllabuses, including the 2025 digital health additions. These are not generic question banks — they are tailored to the specific regulatory framework and scenario types used by DHA and DOH.
• Regulatory document summaries: We provide condensed, exam-focused summaries of the DHA AI Policy, DOH Responsible AI Standard, and current telehealth regulations — translating dense regulatory language into the clear principles and decision patterns the exams test.
• Scenario practice: Our practice question sets include purpose-built digital health and AI scenarios modelled on the current exam style, enabling candidates to build the application and reasoning skills this content requires.
• One-on-one preparation sessions: For candidates who want targeted support, our licensing consultants offer individual exam preparation sessions focused on weak areas including the newer digital health content.
• Full licensing service: Beyond exam preparation, we manage the complete DHA and DOH application process — DataFlow, Sheryan portal, document preparation, and application tracking — so you can focus your energy on exam preparation rather than administrative complexity.

The DHA and DOH exams are evolving. Candidates who prepare with current materials pass at significantly higher rates than those working from outdated resources. If you are sitting the DHA Prometric or DOH exam in 2026, contact the Neelim team for an updated study plan and materials that reflect what is actually on the exam today.

You can also explore our comparison of licensing exams across the region in our guide on DHA vs SCFHS vs QCHP exam comparison to understand how the UAE exams fit into the wider GCC licensing landscape.