Exam guide
The DOH exam, explained
The DOH exam — still widely called the HAAD exam — is the Department of Health Abu Dhabi's licensing assessment for doctors who want to practise in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. For general practitioners it is commonly reported as a computer based exam of 150 multiple choice clinical questions — the DOH publishes no official format document — sat in English at an authorised test centre (official DOH publications do not confirm the provider; sources report both Prometric and Pearson VUE), reported as a straight pass or fail.
Last checked 14 August 2026. The DOH publishes less about this exam than its neighbours publish about theirs: there is no public applicant guide and no published pass mark. This page states what the DOH does say, and labels everything else as candidate reported. Confirm the current detail — including which test-centre provider is currently in use — with the DOH when you book.
HAAD, DOH, and why both names are in use
The regulator was the Health Authority Abu Dhabi — HAAD — until 2019, when it became the Department of Health Abu Dhabi. The exam went with it, and a decade of forum posts, recall collections and study groups still carry the old name. HAAD exam and DOH exam mean the same assessment. The renaming matters in one practical way: study material old enough to say HAAD on the cover is old enough that its clinical answers need checking against current guidelines.
How licensing in Abu Dhabi works
Abu Dhabi licenses its own healthcare workforce, separately from Dubai and the northern emirates. Your qualifications and experience are assessed first, against the Professional Qualification Requirements shared by the UAE health regulators. Once approved, you schedule the exam yourself at an authorised test centre — official DOH publications do not confirm the provider, and sources report both Prometric and Pearson VUE — there are no fixed exam dates. After a pass, the licence is processed through Abu Dhabi's TAMM platform, and it is normally activated once a sponsoring healthcare facility in the emirate is attached to it.
How the exam is structured
The exam is commonly reported as 150 multiple choice questions in a single computer based sitting — the DOH publishes no official format document. Each question is a clinical vignette — a patient presentation with history and findings — asking for the single best answer: the most likely diagnosis, the next investigation, or the next step in management.
| Questions | Commonly reported as 150; the DOH publishes no official format document |
|---|---|
| Time | A single sitting of roughly three hours — the DOH publishes no fixed public format document |
| Question type | Clinical vignettes asking for the single best answer |
| Language | English |
| Delivery | Computer based, at an authorised test centre — official DOH publications do not confirm the provider (sources report both Prometric and Pearson VUE) |
| Result | Pass or fail — no numeric score is reported |
| Pass mark | Not published by the DOH; candidate reports cluster around 60 to 65% |
Because no numeric score is reported, chasing a margin above the rumoured pass mark is wasted effort — the only strategy the format rewards is being solidly ready across all four domains and pacing yourself at a little over a minute per question.
What the exam covers
The DOH describes the exam as covering internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics, and obstetrics and gynaecology, and publishes no percentage split between them. Expect the case mix to read like practice in Abu Dhabi: cardiometabolic disease carries an unusually heavy local weight — the emirate's own screening programme data shows how much diabetes, obesity and dyslipidaemia dominate — and screening detected disease is a routine way into a question, because both cardiovascular screening and visa medical fitness screening are part of ordinary care here.
How to prepare for the DOH exam
- Practise vignettes, not summaries. Every question is a patient. The skill being tested is the decision, and it only builds by making decisions.
- Cover all four domains. With no published weighting, the only safe plan is genuine coverage of medicine, surgery, paediatrics and obstetrics — tilted toward whichever is currently costing you marks.
- Be suspicious of old HAAD material. Recalls and question sets from the HAAD era still circulate. Their clinical answers predate current guidelines, and the exam rewards knowing what the guideline says today.
- Rehearse the pace. A little over a minute per question, sustained for one long sitting. Train it before the day.
- Space the work and return to your mistakes. Missed questions are the highest yield material you own, and they are worth nothing unless something brings them back.
Questions about the DOH exam
What is the DOH exam?
The DOH exam is the licensing assessment of the Department of Health Abu Dhabi for healthcare professionals who want to practise in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. For general practitioners it is commonly reported as a computer based exam of 150 multiple choice clinical questions — the DOH publishes no official format document — sat in English at an authorised test centre (official DOH publications do not confirm the provider; sources report both Prometric and Pearson VUE), with a pass or fail result.
Is the HAAD exam the same as the DOH exam?
Yes. The regulator was called the Health Authority Abu Dhabi, HAAD, until it became the Department of Health Abu Dhabi in 2019, and much of the candidate community still says HAAD exam. Old study materials labelled HAAD refer to this exam, but check their clinical content against current guidelines before trusting them.
What is the passing score for the DOH exam?
The DOH does not publish a pass mark, and the result comes back as a straight pass or fail with no numeric score. Candidate reports cluster around 60 to 65%. Treat any site quoting an exact figure as unverified.
What does the DOH exam cover?
The DOH describes the exam as covering internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics, and obstetrics and gynaecology, but publishes no percentage breakdown by subject. The questions are patient scenarios asking for the most likely diagnosis, the next investigation, or the next step in management.
How do I book the DOH exam?
Eligibility is assessed first, against the Professional Qualification Requirements shared by the UAE health regulators. Once your credentials are approved you schedule the exam yourself at an authorised test centre — official DOH publications do not confirm the provider, and sources report both Prometric and Pearson VUE. After a pass, the licence itself is processed through Abu Dhabi's TAMM platform and is normally activated with a sponsoring healthcare facility.
How is the DOH exam different from the DHA exam?
They license different emirates: DOH for Abu Dhabi, DHA for Dubai. The DOH's test-centre provider is unconfirmed by official publications (sources report both Prometric and Pearson VUE) and its pass mark is unpublished; the DHA exam is delivered through Prometric with a published 60% pass mark. The clinical ground they test is very similar, so preparation for one substantially covers the other.
Where PassCurve fits
PassCurve's DOH bank is built from single best answer vignettes set in UAE practice. Sessions balance the four clinical domains, then tilt toward whichever subject is currently costing you marks. Anything you miss returns on a spacing curve until it sticks, and every answer names the guideline it rests on and the date that source was last read.
Five questions a day are free, with no card required, and the review deck is free for good.
Sitting a different exam? PassCurve also covers the SMLE in Saudi Arabia, the DHA exam in Dubai, the MOHAP exam in the UAE's northern emirates, and the QCHP exam in Qatar, each with its own guide.
PassCurve is an independent revision tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, Prometric, Pearson VUE, or any exam authority. Where this page reports figures the DOH has not published, it says so. Always confirm current exam rules, fees and dates with the DOH before applying.