Exam guide
The QCHP exam, explained
The QCHP exam is the licensing assessment run by Qatar's Department of Healthcare Professions (DHP) — the regulator's current name, though candidates and every prep resource still universally call it QCHP, its former name as the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners. For General Practitioners it is a computer based exam of 150 multiple choice questions taken in 3 hours at Prometric test centres, in English, with a passing score that ranges 50 to 65% depending on specialty.
Last checked 16 August 2026. The figures above come from the DHP's own Qualifying Examination page. The DHP reserves the right to change the format or pass mark, so confirm the current detail on the DHP portal before you book.
How licensing in Qatar works
Qatar licenses its healthcare workforce through the DHP, part of the Ministry of Public Health. The department runs qualifying exams across dozens of professional categories — general practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and more — of which the General Practitioner exam is one.
Certain certificates exempt their holder from sitting the exam at all. The DHP names the qualifying certificates in a dedicated circular rather than on the page itself, so it is worth checking the DHP portal for whether your credentials already clear this step before you book anything.
How the exam is structured
The DHP's own Qualifying Examination page confirms the shape for General Practitioners: 150 multiple choice questions in a single 3 hour sitting, delivered on a computer at Prometric test centres, in English. The questions are clinical vignettes — 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 | 150 multiple choice questions |
|---|---|
| Time | 3 hours, in one sitting |
| Question type | Clinical vignettes asking for the single best answer |
| Language | English |
| Delivery | Computer based, at Prometric test centres |
| Pass mark | 50 to 65% depending on specialty; General Practitioners and dentists need 60 to 65% |
| Attempts | Up to 5 consecutive attempts, regardless of the gap between them |
| Fee | Not published on the DHP page we read — confirm the current fee on the DHP portal |
One detail worth flagging because most preparation advice simplifies it away: the DHP does not publish a single pass mark. It publishes a range — 50 to 65% depending on specialty — and states plainly that General Practitioners and dentists need 60 to 65%. Sites that quote a flat 60% for QCHP are rounding down a range the regulator itself never rounds.
What the exam covers
The DHP publishes no percentage breakdown for the General Practitioner paper. What can be said is how it is universally described by those who sit it: the four core clinical domains of internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics, and obstetrics and gynaecology, tested through patient scenarios rather than recall of isolated facts.
Expect the case mix to read like practice in Qatar. The resident population is overwhelmingly expatriate, so visa and pre-employment medical fitness screening is a routine route into a question; cardiometabolic disease — type 2 diabetes, obesity, early ischaemic heart disease — carries a heavy local weight; and occupational and heat-related illness is a realistic presentation given Qatar's large outdoor and construction workforce.
How to prepare for the QCHP exam
- Practise vignettes, not summaries. Every question is a patient. Reading notes builds recognition; working through cases builds the decision making the exam actually measures.
- Rehearse the pace. A little over a minute per question, for three hours. That pace has to be trained before exam day, not discovered on it.
- Cover all four domains. With no published weighting, the only safe plan is genuine coverage of medicine, surgery, paediatrics and obstetrics — with your revision tilted toward whichever is currently costing you marks.
- Revise against current guidelines. The correct answer is what the cited guideline supports today. Material that cannot name its source cannot tell you when it has gone stale.
- 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 QCHP exam
What is the QCHP exam?
The QCHP exam is the licensing assessment run by Qatar's Department of Healthcare Professions (DHP) — still universally called QCHP, its former name as the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners — for healthcare professionals who want to practise in Qatar. For General Practitioners it is a computer based exam of 150 multiple choice questions taken in 3 hours at Prometric test centres, in English.
How many questions are on the QCHP exam?
150 multiple choice questions in a single 3 hour sitting, per the DHP's own Qualifying Examination page. The questions are clinical vignettes asking for the single best answer.
What is the passing score for the QCHP exam?
The DHP does not publish one flat number. It publishes a range: passing scores run 50 to 65% depending on specialty, and General Practitioners and dentists need 60 to 65%. Sites that quote a flat 60% for QCHP are rounding down a range the DHP itself never rounds.
How many attempts do you get for the QCHP exam?
Up to 5 consecutive attempts, regardless of the gap between them, per the DHP's own page. Certain certificates also exempt their holder from the exam entirely — the DHP lists which ones in a dedicated circular, so it is worth checking the DHP portal for whether your qualification already clears this step before you book.
Does the DHP publish a syllabus for the General Practitioner exam?
Not a percentage breakdown. The DHP publishes blueprint and reference material by profession, but the exact domain weighting for General Practitioners is not public. Candidates universally describe the paper as covering internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics, and obstetrics and gynaecology.
How is the QCHP exam different from the DHA exam?
They license different countries: QCHP for Qatar, under the DHP and Qatar's Ministry of Public Health; DHA for Dubai, under the UAE's Dubai Health Authority. Each regulator runs its own assessment with its own pass mark — QCHP's is a published range, DHA's is a flat 60%. The clinical ground they test is similar, so preparation for one substantially covers the other.
Where PassCurve fits
PassCurve's QCHP bank is built from single best answer vignettes set in Qatari 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 Gulf licensing exam? PassCurve also covers the DHA exam in Dubai and the MOHAP exam in the UAE's northern emirates, each with its own guide.
PassCurve is an independent revision tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Qatar's Ministry of Public Health, the Department of Healthcare Professions (DHP/QCHP), Prometric, or any exam authority. This page summarises the DHP's published qualifying examination page for candidates and is not a substitute for it. Always confirm current exam rules, fees and dates on the DHP portal before applying.