DHA GP Eligibility Criteria 2026: Medical Degree, Internship, Experience, Licence, and Good Standing
Updated July 2026 · ExamCure Team
DHA General Practitioner eligibility is determined by the current UAE Professional Qualification Requirements and DHA licensing rules. The usual route requires a recognized primary medical qualification, completed internship, relevant licensed clinical experience, professional registration, good standing, primary-source verification, and the required DHA assessment.
Standard eligibility route for most international GP applicants
A doctor who graduated outside the UAE will generally need an accredited medical degree of at least five years excluding internship, successful internship completion, two years of relevant hands-on clinical experience, valid professional registration covering the applicable practice history, a Good Standing Certificate, positive verification of the required documents, and a passed DHA assessment unless a formal exemption applies.
DHA GP eligibility checklist
| Requirement | Current general rule | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Primary medical degree | MBBS, MBChB, MD, or equivalent from an accredited institution | Program duration for GP applicants must be at least five years, excluding internship. |
| Internship | Successful completion of the required physician internship | Programs that formally integrate internship into undergraduate training may be assessed differently. |
| Clinical experience | Two years after internship for the standard GP route | Must be relevant, hands-on, licensed, salaried, or contractual clinical work. |
| Professional registration | Valid licence or registration from the home country and/or country of last employment, where applicable | Practice dates should align with licence dates. |
| Good standing | Certificate from the appropriate regulatory authority | Must be valid and no more than six months old at application. |
| PSV | Positive verification of required credentials | Authenticity alone does not guarantee eligibility. |
| Assessment | Pass the required DHA CBT unless exempt | Exam exemption removes only the assessment requirement. |
| Continuity of practice | No unresolved gap exceeding the PQR limits | Gaps over two years can trigger CPD, training, assessment, or trainee restriction. |
1. Primary medical qualification
The current PQR states that physicians applying for the General Practitioner title must complete a medical degree with a study duration of not less than five years, excluding internship. The qualification must come from an accredited or formally recognized institution.
DHA may consider the country, institution, level of recognition, program duration, curriculum, and clinical training. Qualifications not clearly listed in the PQR can be referred for regulatory review rather than automatically accepted.
- Use the final medical degree certificate, not only a provisional result.
- Prepare the complete academic transcript when requested.
- Ensure the institution name and degree title are consistent across all records.
- Provide a certified legal translation when the original is not in English or Arabic.
- Be prepared for UAE equivalency requirements when DHA requests them for a specific qualification.
Distance, honorary, or unclear qualifications require caution
Do not assume that every degree titled “MD” or “medical doctorate” is equivalent to the primary medical qualification required for GP registration. DHA evaluates the actual level, duration, recognition, and clinical content.
2. Internship requirement
Physicians are generally required to complete a one-year internship after graduation. A typical rotating internship should provide supervised clinical exposure across the major medical disciplines rather than a single non-clinical or observational placement.
Where the medical program formally incorporates the required internship into its undergraduate structure, DHA may assess it as part of the qualification. Applicants without acceptable evidence of internship may need additional clinical experience under the PQR and should obtain formal eligibility review before paying for the full licensing pathway.
What the internship certificate should show
- Doctor’s full name.
- Institution or health-system name.
- Exact start and completion dates.
- Clinical rotations or departments.
- Confirmation of successful completion.
- Authorized signature, designation, and official institutional validation.
3. Two years of clinical experience
The standard DHA GP pathway requires two years of clinical experience after successful internship completion. The experience should be relevant to the General Practitioner role and acquired while the doctor was legally registered or licensed to practise.
DHA defines professional experience as hands-on clinical work obtained during salaried or contractual employment. Volunteer posts, observerships, and clinical attachments are excluded from this definition.
What a strong experience certificate should contain
- Full legal name matching the passport.
- Healthcare facility’s legal name and official contact details.
- Professional title and department.
- Exact start and end dates.
- Full-time or part-time status.
- Confirmation of hands-on clinical duties.
- Authorized signatory, title, signature, date, and institutional stamp where applicable.
Which specialties can support a GP application?
The PQR accepts experience relevant to general medical practice. In practice, DHA may consider work in broad clinical fields that develop the competencies expected from a General Practitioner, including:
- General practice and primary care.
- Family medicine.
- Internal medicine.
- Emergency medicine.
- General surgery.
- Paediatrics.
- Obstetrics and gynaecology.
- Critical care and other broad-based clinical services where the duties are compatible with GP practice.
DHA makes the final decision based on the actual role, scope, title, licence, and documented duties. Purely administrative, academic, pharmaceutical, insurance, laboratory-only, or non-clinical work should not be assumed to satisfy GP clinical-experience requirements.
4. Experience exemptions and special routes
The current PQR contains special experience provisions. These do not remove the need for an accredited degree, internship, professional standing, verification, or DHA review.
| Applicant group | Current experience provision | Evidence or caution |
|---|---|---|
| UAE nationals | May obtain the GP title without the standard experience requirement when applying within three years of internship completion. | Must still fulfil the remaining PQR and DHA requirements. |
| Children of Emirati women | May use the same GP experience exemption within the permitted period. | Birth certificate and mother’s family book are required. |
| Non-UAE nationals graduating from UAE universities | The PQR provides an experience exemption for the GP route after internship. | Use Self-Assessment and DHA review to confirm the exact timing and title for the individual application. |
| Graduates of universities outside the UAE | Normally must meet the standard two-year GP experience requirement. | Individual qualifications and practice history remain subject to DHA review. |
UK Foundation Programme applicants
DHA’s current licensing manual specifically states that UK medical graduates who have completed Foundation Year 1 and Foundation Year 2 must complete a third year of postgraduate experience before applying for the GP title.
5. Professional licence or registration
Applicants must hold valid professional registration or a licence to practise in their home country and/or country of last employment where applicable. The licence history is important because DHA uses it to determine whether the claimed experience was obtained during lawful professional practice.
- Licence title should be compatible with the work claimed.
- Licence dates should cover the relevant employment dates.
- Any suspension, restriction, investigation, or disciplinary action must be declared.
- Expired licences may need supporting historical verification from the issuing authority.
- Name and registration-number discrepancies should be resolved before PSV.
6. Good Standing Certificate
The Good Standing Certificate must come from the appropriate licensing or regulatory authority. DHA defines it as evidence that the professional is competent to practise and that regulatory or disciplinary information has been properly disclosed.
For Review Registration Eligibility and Get Registered, the certificate must be valid and not older than six months at the time of application.
Do not obtain the certificate too early
DataFlow and exam preparation can take time. A Good Standing Certificate may expire before Get Registered if it is requested months too early.
7. Gap of practice
A clinical-practice interruption exceeding two years is treated as a discontinuity of practice. The PQR can require specialty-related CPD, supervised clinical training in an approved setting, and a licensing assessment before unrestricted practice.
| Physician practice gap | Current PQR remediation framework |
|---|---|
| Two to less than three years | 40 CME/CPD credits and four months of clinical training |
| Three to less than four years | 80 CME/CPD credits and six months of clinical training |
| Four to less than five years | 120 CME/CPD credits and eight months of clinical training |
| Five to ten years | Generally restricted to UAE nationals and children of Emirati women: 200 CME/CPD credits and 12 months of training |
In general, non-UAE nationals with a practice gap exceeding five years and UAE nationals or children of Emirati women with a gap exceeding ten years may not be eligible under the ordinary route. DHA may add a trainee restriction when experience or continuity requirements are not met.
Because practice-gap calculations depend on exact dates, work scope, nationality, exam validity, and training history, use Review Registration Eligibility for any borderline case.
8. DataFlow and DHA assessment
Eligibility is not complete until required credentials receive acceptable Primary Source Verification and the applicant passes the DHA assessment unless a formal exemption applies.
- Educational qualifications may require PSV.
- Experience certificates may require PSV.
- Professional licences and registrations may require PSV.
- Good standing and exemption evidence may require PSV.
- The DHA CBT and PSV processes may proceed in parallel.
An assessment exemption affects only the examination requirement. It does not waive the medical degree, internship, experience, licence, good-standing, continuity-of-practice, PSV, registration, or licence-activation requirements.
Read the DHA DataFlow Verification Guide 2026 and the DHA GP Exam Topics 2026 guide for the two parallel application tracks.
DHA GP eligibility document checklist
- Recent passport-size photograph.
- Valid passport copy.
- Primary medical degree.
- Complete academic transcript when requested.
- Internship completion certificate and rotations.
- Post-internship experience certificates.
- Professional licences or registrations covering the relevant periods.
- Good Standing Certificate no more than six months old at application.
- Name-change evidence where applicable.
- Official English or Arabic translations.
- Evidence supporting an experience or assessment exemption.
- Practice-gap CPD and training evidence where applicable.
Start with the DHA Self-Assessment Tool
The Self-Assessment Tool is a free preliminary check against the PQR. Enter the real qualification, internship, experience, licence, nationality, graduation location, and gap-of-practice information.
An eligible automated result allows the applicant to proceed toward Get Registered after the required prerequisites. The result is not final approval and does not authenticate documents.
When to request Review Registration Eligibility
Use DHA’s formal eligibility-review service when:
- The automated result is Not Eligible but you believe a documented exception applies.
- Your internship was integrated into the medical degree.
- You have less than two years of experience but may qualify for an exemption or trainee route.
- Your experience spans several specialties or countries.
- You have a practice gap exceeding two years.
- Your university, qualification, or licence title is not clearly represented in the automated tool.
- You are relying on an assessment-exemption credential.
DHA currently lists the eligibility-review fee as AED 200 and the manual-review service-delivery estimate as ten working days. This is a review estimate, not a guarantee of approval.
- Complete Self-Assessment: save the result for the correct GP title.
- Prepare the evidence: passport, degree, internship, experience, licences, good standing, and exception documents.
- Submit Review Registration Eligibility: pay the live Sheryan fee and retain the application number.
- Respond to DHA comments: provide exact documents requested without creating conflicting versions.
- Follow the DHA outcome: proceed to Get Registered, complete additional requirements, accept a trainee restriction, or correct the application route as directed.
Eligible for the DHA GP assessment? Build your preparation pathway
Once your eligibility pathway is clear, choose the Complete DHA GP Programme when you want one structured preparation pathway combining the MCQ Bank, Mock Tests, Crash Notes, study resources and assessments. If you only need one focused component, choose the Free Sampler, MCQ Bank or Mock Tests below.
Frequently asked questions
How much experience is required for the DHA GP title?
The standard route requires two years of relevant clinical experience after internship. Current PQR exemptions apply to defined UAE-national, children-of-Emirati-women, and UAE-university-graduate pathways.
Can volunteer work count as DHA GP experience?
No. DHA defines experience as hands-on clinical work during salaried or contractual employment and excludes volunteer work, observerships, and clinical attachments.
Can I apply immediately after internship?
Most non-UAE nationals graduating outside the UAE must first complete the standard two years of experience. Certain applicants covered by PQR experience exemptions may apply earlier.
Does a positive DataFlow report prove eligibility?
No. It verifies authenticity. DHA still determines whether the verified degree, internship, experience, licence, good standing, and practice history meet the GP criteria.
Can I apply with a gap of more than two years?
A gap over two years normally triggers CPD and supervised-training requirements and may lead to a trainee restriction. Longer gaps can make an applicant ineligible under the ordinary route.
Is a home-country licence required?
Applicants must hold valid professional registration or a licence in the home country and/or country of last employment where applicable. DHA assesses the licensing history against the claimed practice periods.
How old can the Good Standing Certificate be?
DHA requires it to be valid and no more than six months old at the time of the relevant application.
Does passing the DHA GP exam mean I am eligible for a licence?
No. The assessment is one requirement. You must still satisfy the PQR, obtain acceptable PSV, receive DHA professional registration, and have the registration activated into a licence by an eligible facility.
Official sources
- Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements 2025
- DHA Manual for Licensing Healthcare Professionals, Version 1.3
- DHA Self-Assessment Tool
- DHA Review Registration Eligibility Service
- DHA Get Registered Service
- DHA Licensing Policies and Regulations
Disclaimer: This independent guide does not constitute an official DHA eligibility decision. Qualification recognition, internship equivalence, accepted experience, exemptions, practice-gap calculations, assessment exemptions, trainee restrictions, fees, and required documents may change or depend on the individual file. Confirm the current result through Sheryan and DHA before payment.
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