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A DHA license for gynaecologists is the Dubai Health Authority permit that lets an obstetrics and gynaecology physician practise in Dubai Healthcare sector. DHA (Dubai Health Authority) grants it against a professional title, not against your degree, as it comes under the physician category. However, for this field, you need a specialty qualification.
You can get the dha Gynaecologists license in four stages: title matching, source verification of your documents, the assessment and the job offer and license activation. Title matching is where most applications for a DHA license for gynaecologists lose time. Your certificate has to be mapped to a recognised DHA tier before anything is scheduled.
DHA’s use DATA Flow Group for primary source verification to confirm the documents are real and are issued by a recognized institute in the application country. This stage takes most of the time in your licensing journey and it depends on how fast your university and past employers answer your verification request.
While, when it comes to the assessment stage, DHA follows published rules that determine whether you need a CBT or oral assessment. The CBT passing score for Specialist Obstetrics & Gynecology is 60%, with results provided as Pass or Fail only within two working days.
One thing to keep in mind is that DHA works on a tier-based system. Therefore, before you check your country and qualification status, keep in mind that a Tier 1 certificate can exempt you from the exam altogether.
The fourth and final stage is where you get a job offer from a DHA recognized facility in Dubai, and the employer then submits the license activation request to the DHA. Once the request is approved, you are legally allowed to serve in Dubai.
Below, we explain the titles a DHA license for gynaecologists can be issued under, the experience each tier demands, the documents verified at source, and what the exam covers.
What is a DHA license for gynaecologists?
Before we move to the definition, first letโs make sure you do not mix up a Professional Registration Certificate and the DHA license. A Professional Registration Certificate (eligibility letter) is valid for one year and is provided after clearing the DHA CBT test.
The DHA License for Gynaecologists is official confirmation that a professional meets the DHA requirements for the applied position and can practice within a Dubai facility. It is activated by the DHA after your employer requests it from the DHA and provides them with the Professional Registration Certificate, after fulfilling all other requirements.
This license is applies inside Dubai Healthcare City too, because professional licensing in the free zone is managed by DHA.
Which Licensure Titles Does DHA Grant to Gynaecologists?
DHA grants a gynaecologist one of three titles: Specialist Obstetrics & Gynecology, Consultant Obstetrics & Gynecology, or General Practitioner. The title sets the qualification threshold, the assessment route and the fee.
Identify your title before reading the requirements below. The qualification threshold, the assessment route and the experience requirement all change with it.
| Title | Core qualification | Assessment route | Who it suits |
| Specialist Obstetrics & Gynecology | MBBS/MBChB plus a recognised OB/GYN specialty qualification | Computer-based exam, code OBG5891 | Most internationally trained OB/GYN specialists |
| Consultant Obstetrics & Gynecology | As for Specialist, plus one to five years post-qualification by tier | Oral assessment, no CBT exists for this title | Senior consultants holding Tier 1 or Tier 2 certificates |
| General Practitioner | MBBS/MBChB, completed internship, two years of clinical experience | GP computer-based exam | Gynaecologists whose specialty certificate falls outside the recognised table |
The recognised sub-specialties under Obstetrics And Gynecology as per the PQR are provided below.
- Complex Family Planning
- Critical Care Medicine
- Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery
- Gynecological Oncology
- Hospice And Palliative Medicine
- Maternal and Fetal Medicine
- Obstetrics And Gynecological Ultrasound
- Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
- Reproductive Health
- Reproductive Medicine and Infertility
- Sexual And Reproductive Health
- Urogynecology
A two-year sub-specialty degree is accepted where the main specialisation ran at least three years.
DHA license requirements for gynaecologists
- A primary medical degree from a DHA recognised institution.
- A recognised specialty qualification in obstetrics and gynaecology.
- Post-qualification clinical experience for your tier and target title.
- Current registration where you last practised, plus a good standing certificate.
- A clean professional record and a case log that supports your experience claim.
- A job offer from a facility licensed for the specialty, in a setting that matches your intended practice.
Where you can practise: clinic, day surgery centre or hospital
| Setting | What it typically supports |
|---|---|
| Outpatient clinic | Consultations, ultrasound, antenatal care, contraception, minor procedures under local anaesthesia |
| Day surgery centre, Class A or B | Procedures under local anaesthesia or moderate sedation |
| Day surgery centre, Class CM or C | Deep sedation or general anaesthesia, two theatres and a full-time anaesthetist, surgery capped at two or three hours |
| Hospital with maternity service | Deliveries, caesarean sections, complex and emergency obstetrics |
DHA classifies standalone day surgery centres by the depth of anaesthesia permitted, and the service has to be consultant or specialist led with the treating surgeon on site until discharge. A clinic-only practice is therefore a consulting and antenatal practice, not a surgical one. If your plan includes deliveries you need a hospital affiliation, and that affiliation is worth settling before you accept an offer.
The licensing route step by step
- Check your qualification tier and the title you can hold.
- Submit the application and documents in the DHA licensing system.
- Primary source verification of every document, the slowest step.
- Receive the eligibility letter.
- Sit the assessment, or the interview where that applies.
- Secure a job offer at a facility licensed for obstetrics and gynaecology.
- Obtain the good standing certificate at the right moment.
- Activate the license against the facility.
Which Documents Does a Gynaecologist Submit to DHA?
A gynaecologist submits educational qualifications, experience certificates, home-country licenses, a Good Standing Certificate under six months old, a surgical logbook, and exam exemption proof where it applies.
DHA verifies documents directly from the original or primary source. The Manual for Licensing Healthcare Professionals sets out the documents submitted for primary source verification:
- Educational qualifications; your MBBS/MBChB and your OB/GYN specialty or sub-specialty certificate.
- Experience and employment certificates covering the years your title requires.
- Licenses and registrations from your home country and country of last employment.
- A Good Standing Certificate not older than six months from the application submission date.
- Exam exemption proof, where the PQR criteria apply to you.
- A logbook, listed for physicians with surgical specialties. Obstetrics and gynaecology is a substantially operative specialty, and consultancy practice is to prepare one, but the source documents do not publish the list of specialties this covers.
- Any other document DHA requests.
DHA defines the logbook as a typed, comprehensive record covering the last two years, demonstrating clinical competence through mixed major cases, signed and stamped by the medical director of the facility or the head of department. A list of procedure counts does not meet that definition. For consultant applications under the pre-2017 exception, the logbook covers five years.
Two further documents attach at activation rather than at verification: a valid medical fitness report for professionals aged 65 or above, and medical malpractice insurance at the facility where the license is activated. Non-UAE nationals also need a valid labour card.
What Does the DHA Exam for Gynaecologists Cover?
The DHA exam for Specialist Obstetrics & Gynecology, code OBG5891, covers nine domains spanning general obstetrics, general gynecology, maternal fetal medicine, gynecology oncology, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, perioperative management, urogynecology, patient safety and ethics.
The guideline’s own domain labels are: general obstetrics, general gynecology, maternal fetal medicine, gynecology oncology, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, perioperative management, urogynecology and pelvic floor disorders, patient safety, and professionalism and ethics.
Named reference texts include Williams Obstetrics, Speroff’s Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility, Berek and Novak’s Gynecology, and Katz’s Comprehensive Gynecology, alongside the Saudi Commission handbooks on professionalism and ethics and on patient safety.
The DHA CBT Exam Guideline publishes the following parameters for OBG5891.
| Parameter | Specialist Obstetrics & Gynecology |
| Exam code | OBG5891 |
| Format | Multiple-choice questions |
| Questions | 150 |
| Duration | 3 hours, including registration and process introduction |
| Fee | USD 280, paid to Prometric by card |
| Pass score | 60% |
| Result | Pass or Fail, to your Sheryan account within 2 working days |
The three hours includes registration and the process introduction, so question time is shorter than 180 minutes.
Results are reported as Pass or Fail only. The Manual for DHA Professional Assessment states that no further details, such as the score or a review of topics, will be provided, for either outcome. No numerical score, no topic-by-topic breakdown and no exam certificate is issued.
One diagnostic document does exist, and it is widely overlooked. Prometric issues a Learning Outcome letter after the exam identifying general strengths and weaknesses. It does not state the result, and it is not a score report, but for a candidate preparing a second attempt it is the only structured feedback available anywhere in the process.
One caveat belongs with every figure above: DHA reserves the right to activate or de-activate a specialty assessment, and to change the assessment content, format or pass score, without updating the guideline.
How does the oral assessment work for consultant titles?
The oral assessment is a panel examination of at least five clinical scenarios in the specialty, running 20 to 30 minutes, conducted in English with no translator, and reported as Pass or Fail within three to five working days.
CV questions and introductions are capped at five minutes of that time, and the panel may extend the assessment at its discretion. A split panel decision is recorded as a Fail. The three-to-five-day interval is the one published for oral assessments; the two-working-day figure applies to the computer-based exam only.
The panel cannot move you between titles. Performance below the consultant standard produces a Fail, not an offer of the Specialist title; applying at a lower title is a separate step the applicant initiates.
How Long Does DHA Licensing Take for a Gynaecologist?
DHA publishes turnaround times only for the assessments, 2 working days for the CBT result and 3 to 5 for the oral panel, and sets no service-level commitment for verification, registration or activation.
| Stage | Published by DHA | Typical in practice |
| Self-assessment tool | Immediate result | Same day |
| Primary source verification | No published SLA | Weeks, driven by how fast the university, regulator and past employers reply |
| Exam booking | No published SLA | Prometric seat availability; reschedules need 5 calendar days |
| CBT result | 2 working days to Sheryan | As published |
| Oral assessment result | 3 to 5 working days | As published |
| Registration certificate | No published SLA | Follows a complete verification report and a passed assessment |
| Activation | No published SLA | Employer-driven |
Modelled from those stages, a straightforward file runs roughly two to four months from self-assessment to registration certificate, with activation on top and driven by the employer. A file that meets a verification discrepancy, an attestation backlog, or a re-verification cycle can run to six months or beyond. Both are modelled ranges, not commitments.
Because verification and the exam can run in parallel, and registration does not require an employer, both intervals can be compressed by starting them before a job search.
How Much Does a DHA License for Gynaecologists Cost?
The only fixed, published cost is the OBG5891 exam fee of USD 280 per attempt. Verification is charged by a third-party agency, and the review eligibility, registration and activation fees are set in DHA’s service catalogue.
Costs arrive in stages and come from three payees, DHA, the verification agency, and Prometric. The table follows the seven steps in order. Read the status column before budgeting from any row.
| Stage | Cost | Payee | Status |
| 1. Self-assessment tool | Free | DHA | Published in the licensing manual |
| 1b. Review eligibility service (only if self-assessment returns not eligible) | Fee applies | DHA | Service catalogue โ confirm in Sheryan |
| 3. Primary source verification, physician package | AED 1,235 | Verification agency | Agency package price, widely reported โ confirm at checkout |
| 3b. Each additional document type beyond the package | AED 300 | Verification agency | As above |
| 3c. VAT on verification | 5% | Verification agency | As above |
| 5. OBG5891 examination | USD 280 | Prometric | Published in the DHA CBT Exam Guideline |
| 6. Registration | Fee applies, plus a Knowledge and Innovation fee applied at checkout | DHA | Service catalogue โ confirm in Sheryan |
| 7. Activation | Fee applies; normally borne by the employing facility | DHA | Service catalogue |
| Renewal, each cycle | Fee applies | DHA | Service catalogue |
The standard physician verification package covers one degree, one health license, and the last five years of employment limited to three employers. A second degree, a sub-specialty certificate, a fourth employer or a longer history attracts the per-document charge, so a gynaecologist with an MBBS, a specialty certificate, a sub-specialty fellowship and four past employers pays materially more than the package headline.
Attestation in the country of training, certified translation, courier charges and any verification-response fee levied by a university or regulator sit outside DHA’s schedule entirely and vary by country more than any line above.
DHA does not publish the service-catalogue fees outside the Sheryan checkout, so no single end-to-end total appears here. Any figure quoted for the whole process is an estimate.
How Is a DHA License Renewed?
A DHA license is renewed by the facility within three months of expiry, against 40 CME/CPD points per year and, for surgical specialties, a surgical logbook submitted every two years.
Two different renewals exist and they carry different windows. An unactivated registration can be renewed within the 90 days before it expires, so a Professional Registration Certificate approaching twelve months without an employer is not automatically lost, though it is cancelled if neither activated nor renewed. An activated license is renewed by the health facility within three months of its expiry.
Licenses are activated for one, two or three years, and CPD and malpractice requirements apply throughout the period. CME/CPD credits must be relevant to the specialty.
Where a surgical logbook cannot be provided, DHA calculates the gap in surgical practice from the date of the last operation under the discontinuity of practice rules, and may restrict practice or direct further training. Accredited CME providers and the points-logging mechanics are set out under DHA license renewal.
Which Specialty Certificates Does DHA Accept?
MRCOG alone is a Tier 3 qualification, not Tier 1. The UK’s Tier 1 specialty certificate is the Certificate of Completion of Training; Royal College membership sits in Tier 3 unless held with GMC specialist registration.
This is where reasoning from a certificate’s reputation produces the wrong answer. The examination exemption described later applies to Tier 1 certificates, not to every certificate issued in a Tier 1 country. The table below maps the most common gynaecology qualifications to their PQR tier and the consequences that follow.
| Your qualification | Country | PQR tier | Specialist: experience needed | Consultant | Examination |
| CCT or CCST | UK | Tier 1 | None | Two years | Exempt under Criteria 1 |
| Royal College Membership/Fellowship + GMC specialist registration | UK | Tier 2 | None | Five years | Exempt only via the six Criteria 2 conditions |
| MRCOG alone, exam-based, without accredited residency | UK | Tier 3 | Three years | Not attainable | Required |
| American Board (ABMS) certificate | USA | Tier 1 | None | Two years | Exempt under Criteria 1 |
| American Osteopathic Association (AOA) certificate | USA | Tier 2 | None | Five years | Exempt only via Criteria 2 |
| DM, DrNB, FNB or MCh | India | Tier 2 | None | Five years | Exempt only via Criteria 2 |
| MD, MS or DNB | India | Tier 3 | Three years | Not attainable | Required |
Experience figures are for non-UAE nationals and remain subject to the discontinuity of practice rules. MRCS is specifically excluded from the Royal College membership route at every tier.
Two readings follow for the largest groups of applicants. A UK-trained gynaecologist holding a CCT is exempt from the examination and reaches Consultant with two years post-qualification. An Indian gynaecologist holding MD, MS or DNB is Tier 3: the examination is required, Specialist needs three years post-qualification, and the Consultant title is unavailable without the pre-2017 exception. Adding a DM, DrNB, FNB or MCh moves that same doctor to Tier 2, removing the Specialist experience requirement and opening Consultant at five years.
For any certificate not listed above, the Arab Board, a European or Australasian fellowship, DGO, or a specialisation certificate, the tier attached to it in the current PQR table determines both the experience threshold and whether the examination exemption applies.
Why OBGYN applications get delayed
- Applying for Consultant when the qualification tier supports only Specialist.
- Verification stalling on a training hospital that does not respond.
- Accepting an offer from a clinic without a hospital affiliation, when the plan was obstetrics.
- Subspecialty training claimed without a recognised subspecialty qualification.
- Good standing certificate expiring before activation.
Frequently asked questions
Can a gynaecologist deliver babies in a Dubai clinic?
Deliveries belong in a hospital with a licensed maternity service. An outpatient clinic covers consultations, ultrasound and antenatal care.
Do I need a separate license for ultrasound?
Ultrasound in your own specialty is part of your scope of practice as licensed. The facility needs the equipment approved and the service on its license.
Is a DHA license valid in Abu Dhabi or Sharjah?
No. Abu Dhabi licenses through DOH and the Northern Emirates through MOHAP, with their own routes.
Can I start before I have a job offer?
Yes for verification, eligibility and the assessment. The offer is needed for activation.
