UAE Healthcare Licensing

As per the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, the medical tourism industry in Dubai has grown over 5.5% to reach Aed 12.1 billion in 2018, thanks to the unprecedented government led initiatives. A survey by Euromonitor and Fitch solutions found that health expenditure in UAE amounted to Aed 50.3 Billion in 2018, making it a 5.4% increase from the previous year. These figures are set to grow radically with UAE making its mark as one of the most premier luxury destination and a central hub for global travel, providing a high standard of living for expats and locals alike, international educational facilities, large investments in research and development, focus on a knowledge based economy increasingly moving away from dependence on oil, investing in AI – enabled technologies for improved efficiencies, top end fine dining experiences, international tourist attractions, pristine beaches, excellent infrastructure and adoption of latest cutting edge technological advances in all sectors, including healthcare.

Among some of the top healthcare government led initiatives are the Dubai Health Experience (DXH – https://dxh.ae/) which is the first medical tourism portal in the region which enable medical tourists to book their entire medical holiday in a few clicks. The other initiative that gained a lot of traction in the medical tourism scene in UAE is the Abu Dhabi Medical tourism e-portal (https://www.doh.gov.ae/en/featured/medical-tourism) launched jointly by the Abu Dhabi Department of Health and the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism.

Privatization of the healthcare sector has led to building of state of the art healthcare facilities across UAE and billions in private investment into the healthcare sector. These facilities are at par or even ahead in terms of the medical infrastructure and cutting edge equipment and medial solutions that they offer, for example, the Da Vinci Surgical Systems. Coupled with this, we are highly successful in attracting the best Physicians and Surgeons from across the globe who bring in a vast trove of medical skills and best practices into UAE. Now, more than ever, we are witnessing a huge demand from our overseas Physicians, Surgeons and allied healthcare professionals seeking information about UAE healthcare licensing procedures, types of healthcare licenses available to work in the different Emirates of UAE.Our consultants have been busy assisting all our overseas Physicians, Surgeons and allied healthcare professionals to obtain healthcare licenses in UAE.UAE consists of seven different Emirates which all combine to form the country United Arab Emirates. As per UAE law, every medical or healthcare professional, including but not limited to Physicians, Surgeons and allied healthcare professionals like nurses and medical technicians is required to apply for a UAE healthcare license in order to work legally in the UAE. No healthcare professional is allowed to work legally in UAE without a valid healthcare license. Every healthcare professional firstly needs to decide which Emirate in the UAE they with to work in. Based on their decision, they may choose to apply for any of the below licenses and initiate the license process. Overseas medical professionals seeking advice on types of licenses and details on vacancies across various Emirates may feel free to write to us on license@davidsondubai.com in order to help them ascertain which license application they would like to pursue. The Emirate of Dubai has two licensing bodies, the first one is the DHA (Dubai Health Authority) or Dubai mainland. The second one is a free zone, DHCC(Dubai Healthcare City).Candidates who wish to work in the Dubai mainland medical entities must apply for the DHA license .In order to verify whether you qualify to obtain a DHA license and ascertain the title of the license that you qualify for, you may write in to us on license@davidsondubai.com and our consultants would guide you through the end to end licensing process.

Candidates who wish to work in the Dubai Healthcare City must apply for a DHCC license.Candidates who may have any questions about their qualifications and title for the DHCC license may write in to us on license@davidsondubai.com and we would be glad to assist you through the licensing process.The third UAE healthcare license is the DOH license (Department of Health) which would enable a medical professional to really practice and work in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.For all overseas candidates seeking advice on how to obtain the DOH license, including information on whether they would qualify for the DOH license and the title that they would obtain may send in their questions to us on license@davidsondubai.com and we will get in touch with you to provide expert advice and guidance through the licensing process to obtain a DOH license. In order to legally work and practice the medical profession in the other Emirates of UAE like Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quain, candidates would have to apply for a MOH license (Ministry of Health).Candidates who may have any queries about the MOH licensing process and the requirements in order to qualify for the desired title that they wish to obtain may send in their queries to us on license@davidsondubai.com and we would assist you through the licensing process to obtain an MOH license.It is not mandatory for candidates to have a UAE healthcare license when they are looking for suitable job opportunities across UAE, however, once a Physicians, Surgeon or allied healthcare professional signs and accepts a job offer in UAE, it becomes mandatory for that candidate to obtain a valid UAE healthcare license based on the location of work that the candidate has accepted to work in.We recommend Physicians, Surgeons and allied healthcare professionals who are serious about relocating to UAE for work, to obtain a healthcare license while simultaneously searching and applying for job opportunities.The possession of a UAE healthcare license does not guarantee a job to any Physician, Surgeon or allied healthcare professional but it does present an added advantage to the candidate.If a Physician, Surgeon or an allied healthcare professional completes the licensing process and successfully obtains a UAE healthcare license, then their job applications would stand out amidst others since licensed candidates would be available to join the prospective employers almost immediately after completing their respective notice periods.This would save valuable time for the prospective employers. Overseas Physicians, Surgeons and allied healthcare professionals who have completed the healthcare licensing process and obtained a healthcare license in UAE, either a DHA license, a DHCC license, a DOH license or a MOH license are considered as serious candidates by recruiters and prospective employers alike. Physicians, Surgeons and allied healthcare professionals who have put in the time and effort to obtain a UAE medical license are sure of their motive to relocate to UAE upon accepting an offer from a medical entity in UAE and therefore we strongly recommend all overseas candidates who have decided to relocate to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain or any other Emirate in UAE to work and live here alone or with their families that they must start their DHA, DHCC, DOH or MOH licensing process in order to place themselves in a better position to apply and get shortlisted for suitable job opportunities across UAE.We would like to let our candidates know that the first time you apply for a medical license to practice in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or any other Emirate, once you qualify, write the exam (Tier 1 candidates are exempt from written exams) and pass successfully, you would receive an Eligibility Letter (DHA) or a Letter of Acceptance (DHCC).This is not the DHA license or the DHCC license, it is an official certificate from DHA, DHCC stating that all candidate credentials have been verified and that the candidate has completed the healthcare licensing requirements set by the governing healthcare authority of that particular region.Physicians, Surgeons and allied healthcare professionals who have obtained this letter are eligible to accept a job offer from a registered medical entity in the respective location as mandated by the medical license that he or she holds.As soon as the candidate joins the organization, the letter is covered by the organization into an official DHA, DHCC, DOH or MOH medical license.

The healthcare sector in Dubai is governed by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).Every Physician, Surgeon and allied healthcare professional who wishes to practice their medical profession in the Emirate of Dubai must apply and obtain a DHA License. The candidate must first ascertain whether they qualify to apply for a DHA license. Not every Physician, Surgeon or allied healthcare professional can obtain a DHA license to work in Dubai. The Dubai Health Authority has established and specified strict guidelines and policies related to medical and healthcare professionals who seek to obtain a DHA license in Dubai or setup a private practice or take up employment at one of the hospitals or medical centers across Dubai. The guidelines or requirements for DHA licensing are listed in the DHA PQR (Professional Qualification Requirements).The DHA PQR or the Professional Qualification Requirements enlist recognized qualifications from all the countries of the world and breaks down the specific requirements for the different tiles, specialties and subspecialties authorized by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).For example, General Practitioners, Specialists and Consultants. Physicians, Surgeons and allied healthcare professionals who reside overseas and do not have a DHA license to work in Dubai may start looking for or applying for jobs advertised online even if they do not have a DHA license. The DHA license or Dubai Health Authority license is not mandatory to search for a job in Dubai, however, we recommend that every Physician, Surgeon and allied healthcare professional serious about taking up job opportunities in Dubai and relocating, must initiate the Dubai Healthcare licensing process. A Dubai healthcare license or a DHA license does not guarantee a job to any medical or healthcare professional, however, healthcare professionals holding a valid DHA license or a DHA Eligibility Letter would increase their chances of finding a suitable job opportunity in Dubai as employers view the license holder to be a legally approved and eligible candidate since the guidelines set in the PQR are very stringent in order to allow only the best to qualify and obtain a DHA license in order to practice in Dubai and not every healthcare professional can obtain the DHA license, unless they are competent in their specific specialty or sub specialty. Candidates who hold a DHA license or DHA Eligibility Letter also have another advantage since prospective employers would save on the licensing time for a candidate who they have interviewed and wish to employ at their medical facility. The time required for licensing could go up to 4 to 5 months and sometimes more and therefore prospective employers prefer to shortlist candidates who have already cleared the exam and obtained a DHA license or a DHA Eligibility Letter. This is the reason we recommend that all healthcare professionals who are serious about relocating to Dubai must initiate the process of DHA licensing.

Candidates who may need assistance in the DHA healthcare licensing process to obtain the DHA license may write in to us on license@davidsondubai.com .All candidates seeking to obtain a DHA healthcare license must know that after having gone through the DHA PQR and ascertaining that they qualify for a healthcare license in Dubai, going through the application process, they clear the DataFlow, write the exam and pass the DHA exam, they would receive a DHA Eligibility Letter which will officially authorize them to accept a job offer from a licensed healthcare entity in mainland Dubai.The DHA PQR provide a list of countries and recognized qualifications which are exempt from the DHA exam.The DHA PQR also clearly enlists the number of years of experience required by various healthcare professionals in order to qualify for the different license titles like General Practitioner, Specialist and Consultants.Some of the Tier 1 countries and qualifications which the Dubai Health Authority recognizes and exempts from a written exam for a Consultant title are Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States of America.We would like to let you know that not all qualifications from these countries qualify for an exemption from the DHA exam to obtain the title of a Consultant.The DHA PQR clearly lists the specific recognized qualifications from these Tier 1 countries that would exempt the candidates from the written exam to obtain the title of a Consultant.DHA Licensing information about Tier 2 and Tier 3 countries are mentioned too with all recognized qualifications.Physicians, Surgeons from Tier 3 county qualifications cannot obtain the title of a Consultant, however, they would qualify for the title of a Specialist, based on the recognized qualifications and the corresponding number of years of experience required by DHA for the candidate to obtain a DHA license.Tier 2 candidates can obtain the title of a Consultant upon having completed the required number of years of experience with the specific recognized qualification for that particular country.Physicians, Surgeons and allied healthcare professionals with any queries regarding the DHA license or exemption criteria may contact us on license@davidsondubai.com .