DOH exam 2026: format, booking and attempts

Depending on your title, the DOH licensing exam has one or two components taken in order: a written exam, and an oral, practical or OSCE (objective structured clinical examination). The written exam is computer-based and delivered by Pearson VUE; for some titles it is followed by an oral, practical or OSCE component. You must pass every component DOH sets for your title before you can be licensed.

The Unified PQR (clause 1.5.2) says the mode of examination depends on your title, not your specialty, and DOH's Licensing Procedural Manual (2024) lists which titles sit which mode (see the next section). DOH's standard says the oral, practical and OSCE components can test the technical expertise of your specialty, general clinical knowledge and judgement, patient risk and safety, professional ethics, accepted international standards and evidence-based practice - using scenarios, radiographs, slides, clinical skills assessments and anonymised patient records. Your TAMM eligibility notice is the final word for your case, because some titles have an additional component that DOH states once your credentials are approved.

The same manual gives question counts and durations by title, from 60 to 180 minutes for a CBT and 45 to 60 minutes for an oral or OSCE. DOH publishes no pass mark for any title, so any pass mark quoted online comes from consultancies and prep sites and is an estimate.

DOH's Licensing Procedural Manual (2024, issued with DOH Circular 151/2024) sets one exam component by title, either a computer-based test (CBT) or an oral. Some titles get an additional component, which DOH states once your credentials are approved. Everything is in English, no translator is allowed at an oral, and the exam step is valid for 6 months. CBT results appear as Pass or Fail on TAMM within 24 hours; oral and OSCE results within 5 working days.

Physicians: the General Practitioner sits a CBT of 120 MCQs in 2.5 hours. For specialists in Anesthesia, Dermatology, Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Otolaryngology, General Surgery and Obstetrics & Gynecology, and for consultants in those specialties plus Ophthalmology, the CBT is 100 MCQs in 2 hours. All remaining specialist and consultant specialties sit an oral of 45 to 60 minutes.

Dentists: the General Dentist sits a CBT of 150 MCQs in 3 hours. Specialists in Endodontics, Orthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Periodontics and Prosthodontics sit a CBT of 100 MCQs in 2 hours. Specialists in Dental Radiology, Forensic Dentistry, Oral Medicine, Primary Care Dentistry, Dental Pathology, Public Health Dentistry, Special Care Dentistry and Restorative Dentistry sit an oral, as do consultants in all dental specialties.

Nursing and midwifery: a CBT for the Registered Nurse (150 MCQs, 3 hours, AED 540), and for the Assistant Nurse, School Nurse and Registered Midwife (100 MCQs, 2 hours, AED 500). An oral (AED 50) for the Nurse Practitioner, Certified Anesthesia Nurse, Community Nurse, Critical Care Nurse, Homecare Nurse, Pediatric Nurse, Mental Nurse, Neonatal Nurse and Assistant Midwife.

Allied health and pharmacy: a CBT of 50 to 100 MCQs in 1 to 2 hours (AED 500, Pharmacist AED 550) for Anesthesia Technologist, Anesthesia Technician, Audiologist, ECG Technician, Central Sterile Services (CSS) Technician, CSS Aide, Dietitian, Nutritionist, Dental Assistant, Dental Lab Technician, Radiography Technologist, Radiography Technician, Phlebotomist, Medical Laboratory Technician, Medical Laboratory Technologist, all laboratory specialty technologist titles (except histopathology), Occupational Therapist, Occupational Therapy Technician, Optometrist, Pharmacist, Pharmacy Technician, Physiotherapist, Sport Therapist, Massage Therapist, Respiratory Therapist and Speech Therapist. A CBT plus an oral (AED 550; CBT 1 to 2 hours, oral 40 to 60 minutes) for the Electro-Neurodiagnostics Technologist, EEG Technician, Histopathology Technologist and Clinical Pharmacist (AED 600), except that a Clinical Pharmacist who passed the pharmacist exam within the past 5 years, or who holds a MOHAP or DHA pharmacist licence, is not required to sit it. A CBT plus an OSCE (100 to 150 MCQs, 150 minutes, AED 550) for the Advanced Care Paramedic, Ambulance Nurse, Advanced EMT, Primary EMT and Emergency Medical Responder. An oral (AED 50) for all remaining allied titles, for example the psychologist.

Traditional and complementary medicine: the Chiropractor and the Osteopathy Practitioner sit an oral of 40 to 60 minutes. For titles with no DOH exam, DOH asks for a valid MOHAP evaluation for the title. Exemptions are covered above and in the PQR; the manual's tables still show the mode that applies if you are not exempt.

Every healthcare professional must pass the authority's exam to be licensed in the UAE, unless an exemption applies. The Unified PQR (clause 1.5.1) exempts UAE nationals and Children of Emirati Women, and its exam equivalency chapter (clause 21) exempts holders of certain qualifications or licences.

The April 2025 PQR (third version) sets the main routes. Consultant and specialist physicians are exempt on a recognised Tier 1 specialty certificate from one of 21 countries: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, South Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the USA. GPs are exempt on named exam records such as the AMC exams, LMCC, PLAB I and II, USMLE Part III or EMREE. Nurses and midwives are exempt on a valid licence and good standing certificate from the same 21 countries, or on an NCLEX pass record. Pharmacists, physiotherapists, dental hygienists and other categories have their own tables.

An exemption removes the exam only. Primary source verification, experience, credentialing and good standing still apply (clauses 1.6.2 and 21.2), and DOH may add conditions at its discretion (clause 21.1). Equivalency exam records must be valid at application; where a record states no validity it is accepted for five years from issue (clause 21.3). Not sure where you stand? Run our eligibility checker or read the GCC exam exemptions guide.

Yes, if your gap in practice is more than two years. Clause 21.4 of the Unified PQR says the exam exemption criteria do not apply to professionals with a gap of practice exceeding two years (UAE nationals and Children of Emirati Women are treated separately). This is easy to miss, because the better-known three-year figure belongs to a different rule.

That rule is clause 1.7.1: a discontinuity in clinical practice of more than three years requires CME/CPD credits and a period of supervised clinical training. For a gap of three to under four years, the PQR table sets 80 CME/CPD credits and 6 months of training for physicians and dentists, 40 credits and 6 months for nurses, and 20 credits and 6 months for allied health, pharmacists and TCIM. For four to under five years it sets 120 credits and 8 months, 60 and 8 months, and 30 and 8 months respectively.

After completing that remediation, everyone except UAE nationals and Children of Emirati Women must pass the licensure exam, even if they hold valid exam equivalency proof (clause 1.7.5). A gap of more than five years generally bars a licence application altogether (clause 1.7.6). See our gap in practice guide.

You need an approved DOH application first. You cannot book the exam directly: DOH's Health Professionals Licensing Department must approve your application for the exam, and only then does payment and booking open in TAMM.

The PQR requires a valid licence or registration in your home country or country of last employment, and a good standing certificate not older than six months at the time of applying (clause 1.3). Your qualifications and experience are verified at source (clause 1.4), which in practice means DataFlow primary source verification - our DataFlow guide explains the process and the cost calculator estimates the fee for your case. DOH publishes no document checklist per title on its public pages, so confirm yours in TAMM.

Not sure your title and qualifications will clear the PQR? Our eligibility assessment checks this before you pay any fees.

You book through TAMM and Pearson VUE, in this order: DOH approves your application, you pay in TAMM, then you pick a date and centre with Pearson VUE. DOH's FAQ tells you to use a computer or laptop with Chrome, find your application (reference starting HPREG or HPACT) under Department of Health services, open the three-dot menu and select PAY.

Once payment is made, a link to Pearson VUE appears under the action drop-down in your TAMM account. Choose the date, time and location in Pearson's scheduler, then print your confirmation. Pearson's emails come from @pearson.com, so check your spam folder.

Neither DOH nor Pearson VUE publishes a processing time for approval or a guaranteed wait for a slot, so we cannot give you one. Plan around the stages you control and use our licensing timeline calculator for a realistic overall estimate. If you need a booking for an oral exam, the process is different - see the oral section below.

DOH exams are offered at Pearson VUE test centres, and Pearson's DOH programme also offers online testing with OnVUE. Pearson does not say on its public DOH page which exams can be taken online, so check what your TAMM booking offers.

For OnVUE, check-in begins 30 minutes before your appointment and includes a technology check, photo ID verification and a 360-degree room scan. You need a government-issued photo ID that matches the name on your booking; expired, digital, damaged, copied or privately issued IDs are not accepted. You also need Windows 10 or later or macOS 14 or later, a webcam, microphone and speaker (no headphones), a single monitor and at least 6 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload. Run Pearson's DOH system test before exam day. Books, notes, papers, pens, bags and food must be off the desk, and VPNs and public networks are not allowed.

Rescheduling and cancelling are done through TAMM. Pearson's DOH page gives no deadline or fee, and DOH's Standard for Licensing Examinations says exam fees are non-refundable, including for rescheduling, cancellation and non-attendance. For a test centre, Pearson's DOH page lists no ID or arrival rules, so follow your confirmation email and bring the ID that matches your booking.

The DOH oral is a scenario-based discussion with an examiner panel, booked in TAMM rather than through Pearson VUE. DOH's FAQ gives separate steps: in TAMM choose Future Exam Bookings or the Exam Booking icon, pick an appointment, open the three-dot menu and select PAY.

The Unified PQR says an oral has a minimum of five different scenarios or questions in areas related to the specialty, is conducted in English, and allows no translator (clauses 1.5.3.1 and 1.5.3.2). Candidate-facing guides report five to six scenarios including an ethics scenario, lasting 45 to 60 minutes on Microsoft Teams from a PC or laptop, proctored and recorded by a DOH representative. DOH does not publish these details itself, so treat them as reported rather than guaranteed. DOH's Licensing Procedural Manual (2024) lists the titles that sit an oral; see the section on which titles sit a CBT and which an oral. It sets oral and OSCE sessions at 45 to 60 minutes (40 to 60 minutes for the chiropractor and osteopathy practitioner).

Where there are two components, they are sequential. Under DOH's standard, if you fail the first component three times you cannot move on to the second and must restart the exam process. If you fail the second component three times in a row, you must re-sit the first component after 12 months. And you must sit the second component within 12 months of passing the first, or the first pass lapses. Our DOH oral assessment guide covers preparation, and the consultant oral hub compares how each authority runs it.

DOH notifies you of a Pass or Fail only; no score or breakdown is given. You view the result in TAMM by opening your licence application and selecting Additional Details, per DOH's FAQ. Per the Licensing Procedural Manual (2024), CBT results appear within 24 hours and oral or OSCE results within 5 working days.

A failed attempt tells you nothing about where you fell short, so find your weak areas before you sit it: our free timed mock tests score you domain by domain, and the question banks give you full-length papers with a rationale for every answer.

Passing is one step in the DOH licence, alongside DataFlow verification and your good standing certificate. DOH publishes no validity period for a pass on a single-component exam, so do not let the rest of your file stall after you pass; the one published limit is the 12 months between components. The full process, fees and timeline are in our DOH licence requirements guide and the DOH Abu Dhabi licence guide. Moving from Dubai? See DHA to DOH licence transfer.

You get three attempts in total across the UAE, not three per authority. Clause 1.5.4 of the Unified PQR grants three attempts across the authorities, so a failed DHA attempt counts against your DOH total, and you must declare your earlier attempts (clause 1.5.6). After three failures, clause 1.5.5 allows one final attempt with a different authority; the legacy Consultant route is excluded from that extra attempt.

Between attempts, DOH's Standard for Licensing Examinations lets you re-sit 3 months after a fail and requires 12 months after a third fail. Exam fees are non-refundable, including when you reschedule, cancel or miss the exam, so book only when you are ready. The authorities also reserve the right to re-examine licensed professionals (clause 1.5.7).

Use the wait to rebuild, not repeat. Since DOH gives no score report, take a timed mock to locate weak domains, then work the matching question bank. Our UAE retake guide and the comeback guide cover the approach.

DOH's Licensing Procedural Manual (2024) gives exam fees by title for some groups: AED 540 for the Registered Nurse CBT, AED 500 for other nursing CBTs and most allied health CBTs (AED 550 for the Pharmacist), AED 550 for combined or OSCE routes (AED 600 for the Clinical Pharmacist), and AED 50 for the oral routes in the nursing and allied tables. Check the amount shown in TAMM for your own title. The mechanism is: you pay the DOH exam fee in TAMM before the Pearson VUE link opens, and it is non-refundable.

The other costs are the DataFlow verification fee (see the DataFlow cost calculator), the application and licence fees shown in TAMM, and the price of a re-sit if you fail, since each attempt is paid for separately. For a wider budget, see the UAE licensing cost breakdown and the GCC cost comparison.

Most problems come from assuming rather than checking. The recurring ones are:

Assuming an exemption survives a career break. It does not if the gap exceeds two years (clause 21.4). Under-declaring attempts at other UAE authorities, which the PQR requires you to state. Booking before you are ready, because fees are non-refundable. Sitting the first component of a two-part exam without planning the second inside the 12-month window. Quoting an unofficial pass mark as fact. Using a booking name that differs from your ID. Skipping the OnVUE system test, or missing Pearson emails in spam. Our licence rejection mistakes guide covers the paperwork side.

Prepare against the clinical scope of your title, since DOH publishes no blueprint. Start with a timed mock on our free mock tests to find weak domains, then work through the question banks by topic, and finish with full-length papers under exam timing.

Browse everything by profession in exam prep. For ethics and case discussion, rehearse out loud, because the oral rewards structured reasoning. Our digital health questions guide covers a newer topic area, and the DHA vs DOH vs MOHAP comparison shows where the authorities differ.