Skip to content
An ophthalmologist working in Dubai needs a DHA professional license for the title of Specialist or Consultant in ophthalmology, activated against a facility licensed for the specialty. The point that decides your business model is the line between an optical centre and a medical facility. DHA licenses optical centres for refraction, spectacles and contact lenses, and explicitly rules out fundus cameras, tonometers and optical coherence tomography in that setting. Medical eye care and surgery therefore need a clinic or a day surgery centre, not an optical shop. This page covers the licensing route, the titles, that boundary and what refractive surgery requires.
What is a DHA license for ophthalmologists?
A personal license from the Dubai Health Authority for a title in ophthalmology, activated against a licensed facility. It applies inside Dubai Healthcare City as well, because professional licensing in the free zone is managed by DHA.
Titles and who else works in eye care
| Role | What it is |
|---|---|
| Specialist or Consultant Ophthalmologist | A medical doctor with a recognised ophthalmology qualification. Diagnoses and treats eye disease, operates |
| Optometrist | Eye examinations for refractive error, prescribes spectacles and contact lenses, identifies and manages conditions such as glaucoma and cataract, pre and post-operative care |
| Dispensing optician | Fits and dispenses eyewear |
| Orthoptist | Eye movement abnormalities |
All of them hold their own DHA license and work within their own scope of practice. The tier of your ophthalmology qualification decides the experience DHA requires for Specialist or Consultant, see the professional qualification requirements.
Optical centre or medical facility: the line that matters
DHA licenses standalone optical centres for optometry services. Under the standards for optical centres:
- Permitted: refraction and vision testing, prescribing and dispensing spectacles and contact lenses, low vision services, eye examinations.
- Not permitted in that setting: fundus cameras, tonometers and optical coherence tomography devices.
- The centre needs its own DHA facility license, displayed visibly, and every professional in it needs an active DHA license.
So an ophthalmologist planning imaging, pressure measurement, injections or surgery is planning a medical facility. An optical retail concept and a medical eye clinic are two different licenses and two different fit-outs, and combining them means licensing both, not one.
Surgery: which facility class you need
Refractive and cataract surgery are surgical services and follow the facility rules, not the clinic rules. DHA classifies standalone day surgery centres by the depth of anaesthesia permitted:
| Class | Anaesthesia | Setup |
|---|---|---|
| Class A | Local anaesthesia, minimal sedation | Surgeon and nurse |
| Class B | Moderate sedation | Team plus part-time anaesthetist for narcotic procedures |
| Class CM | Deep sedation | Two theatres, full-time anaesthetist, two hour cap |
| Class C | General anaesthesia | Two theatres, full-time anaesthetist, three hour cap |
Most adult refractive work runs under topical or local anaesthesia, which is the lower end of that scale. Paediatric cases and anything under general anaesthesia are not, and that decides your investment. The service has to be consultant or specialist led, and the treating surgeon stays on site until discharge. See the DHA facility license guide.
The licensing route step by step
- Confirm your qualification tier and target title.
- Submit the application and documents.
- Primary source verification, the slowest step.
- Receive the eligibility letter.
- Sit the assessment, or the interview where that applies.
- Job offer from a facility licensed for ophthalmology, and for the procedures you perform.
- Good standing certificate, timed so it does not expire.
- Activation against the facility.
Why ophthalmology plans stall
- Planning imaging or tonometry inside an optical centre license.
- Signing with a facility whose license does not cover the surgery you perform.
- Applying for Consultant when the tier supports only Specialist.
- Underestimating equipment approvals, see medical device registration.
- Good standing expiring before activation.
Frequently asked questions
Can an optical centre in Dubai do an OCT scan?
No. Optical coherence tomography, fundus cameras and tonometers are outside the equipment permitted in an optical centre under the DHA standards. That work belongs in a licensed medical facility.
Can an optometrist manage glaucoma in Dubai?
The standards for optical centres list identifying and managing conditions such as glaucoma and cataract within optometry services, within the optometrist’s scope of practice. Medical and surgical treatment is the ophthalmologist’s.
Do I need a separate license for laser eye surgery?
You need the title that covers it and a facility licensed for the procedure and the anaesthesia it uses, plus approval of the equipment.
Related guides
- DHA license for doctors
- DHA facility license in Dubai
- Opening a clinic in Dubai
- Medical device registration in the UAE
- Professional qualification requirements
- DHA license for dermatologists
- DHA license for plastic surgeons
- DHA license for gynaecologists
- DHA license for dentists
- DHA license for psychiatrists
- DHA license for orthopaedic surgeons
