Q: What are the documents usually required to apply for the a medical license in UAE (DHA, MOH, DOH)?
It really depends on your profession, but generally, the documents required for all professions are more or less the same. For example, mandatory requirements would be:
- Educational Certificates.
- Passport photo, Passport Copy.
- Experience Letter for last 3 years at least for Specialists and Consultants. For GP Level, 2 years plus 1-year Internship.
- Good Standing Certificate from the latest medical council, not more than 6 months
- Medical Registration Certificate
- For surgeons, Logbook for the last 2 years is required. This needs to be signed and stamped by the Medical Director of the clinic/facility.
Q: How many years of experience as a consultant do jobs generally require?
The hospitals usually prefer at least 3 – 5 years post-specialty qualification.
Q: Once I get the license, how long is it valid for?
All physicians are required to renew their professional licenses annually.
The criteria for the renewal of a professional license the applicant must demonstrate compliance with the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirement.
certain credit points of accredited Continuing Professional Development (CPD) are required every year.
CPD points shall be accredited by one of the accrediting bodies recognized by DHA.
The reporting of the CPD requirement for the purpose of license renewal must be by submitting/uploading copies of the certificates.
Valid malpractice insurance
Recent Practice (current employment certificate
Evidence of completing CPD points.
Q: What if I’m not willing to accept a job offer this year, is it easy to keep renewing my registration?
DHA registration is valid for one year however it is easy and straightforward to renew, you can also use the Dataflow report for any Gulf country, also the Dataflow report is the longest part of the licensing process and verifications will never expire.
Q: What if I don’t want to apply for the license yet and just want help in finding a job?
You can still do this as some hospitals do sponsor you in getting the license. However, 9 out of 10 times, having a license will increase your chances of finding a job. If you have this, you would be ready to leave your country and start work immediately instead of starting the whole registration process if you are fortunate enough to be accepted.
Q: Is accommodation expensive in Dubai or in UAE?
It doesn’t have to be, there are many options for accommodation to choose from. It depends on your preferences. You may rent an apartment behind Burj Khalifa, on the other hand, you can rent a 3-4 bedrooms apartment or villa inside a community for 70 to 90K AED / a year.
Q: Is transport expensive in Dubai?
Taxi in Dubai is very cheap and it’s also about the same price as Dubai Uber. Also, there is a public transportation system in Dubai consisting of buses, water buses, monorail system, tram, and the Dubai metro. The Dubai metro is considered to be one of the most modern and cost-effective public transportation systems in the world.
Q: What is the weather like in Dubai?
Dubai experiences two distinct summer and winter seasons, with year-round warm temperatures. The summer months (between June and August) have average temperatures of over 30⁰C, with January having the lowest average temperature of roughly 20⁰C. Since Dubai experiences 8 to 10 hours of sunshine on average per day, you can typically count on clear sky and mild to hot temperatures.
Q: Is English widely spoken in Dubai?
In Dubai, English is the language that is most commonly used for business, trade, and tourism. In Dubai, foreigners make up over 75% of the population, and the majority of them speak English or their original tongue.
Q: Why must I obtain my DHA license first before applying to work in the hospitals?
Dubai has evolved into a leading medical tourism hub, providing accessible healthcare services to the UAE and surrounding countries. Due to this unique set up of so many hospitals in a relatively small city, this makes the Dubai healthcare recruitment market extremely complex, dynamic and competitive.
It is so important that the hospital’s vacancies are filled as soon as possible in order for the hospital to avoid loosing their patient flow to their competitors.
We are very experienced with recruiting Doctors to Dubai and we have strong sensitivity and understanding of the market’s demands.
Our recruitment company has a dedicated in-house DHA Licensing service and we encourage selected specialties of Doctors to obtain their DHA registration first before applying to hospitals.
The DHA Licensing application and recruitment process can be very complex and it can take up to almost a year for the formalities to take place. This is just not practical most of the time when it comes to securing work in Dubai!
The majority of applicants will ideally need to obtain their registration first in order to increase their chances of securing work here in Dubai and ensure a smooth relocation process.
We only encourage selected, highly skilled Doctors to invest our services if we feel that they will have strong potential in this market.
There are many high caliber Doctors who have chosen to work with us to be introduced to the Dubai healthcare market as they preferred to have a more proactive approach, predictable outcome and to explore their options. They also found it very useful to have our advice on the employment contract, salary negations and general relocation support to assist them through the unknown.
Q: What does the licensing service include?
We charge a full amount up front, and this includes all the application fees, Dataflow verification fees as well as our full consultation service, we will monitor your application continuously and keep you updated.
Our service is not just about assisting with the license, we fully support all of our candidates throughout the entire relocation process. We are also contracted with the most reputable hospital groups in Dubai so we will let you know as we come across any suitable vacancies that you can apply for with our clients, OR if we do not come across a vacancy for you we will consult you on how and which hospitals to apply to directly.
Q: What is the usual starting salary range in UAE?
In Dubai there is no set salary scale, all salaries and packages are negotiated on an individual basis. However typically speaking we can give you an idea – The starting salary for non surgical consultant grade Doctors will be around 70,000 AED Monthly (Tax free) and for surgical consultants the starting salary will be approx. 80,000 AED. The earning potential will increase as you become established in the market. The contract will be limited or unlimited and will include flights, malpractice insurance and health insurance. You will also get an additional 1 month salary as per the UAE labor law which you will collect as a lump sum once you leave the contract.
Working hours will be 45 – 48 hours a week over 5 or 6 days.
Q: Is there an option to work as a locum for a few days a week/ a month?
Full-time long-term commitments are more practical in this market.
Q: Is the DHA license only valid for Dubai? For example, if I process my DHA license and I got an offer in Abu Dhabi can I use DHA?
The DHA is valid only for Dubai however you can always transfer the Dataflow report to DOH/ HAAD/ MOH. It will be straightforward for you if your qualifications are tier 1 as you will be exempted from any examination in UAE.
Q: How long will the licensing process take?
The DHA licensing and Dubai recruitment process varies on each individual Doctors’ situation, training and background. However, typically we can say for tier 1 qualified Doctors the licensing process takes on average 3 months, for tier 2 or 3 qualified Doctors the process can take up to 4 months or even more due to the variances of training systems, documentation requirements of different countries, and assessment booking.
Once the doctors have received their DHA License registration we then focus on what jobs are available in the market.
Q: What is the DHA Tier system?
In Dubai we have Doctors and nurses working here from all over the world with a multitude of skills from different training systems. It is essential that the DHA has a strong system and guidelines for recognizing the overall caliber and strengths of a particular countries’ training system in order to maintain the highest possible standards of practice in the Dubai healthcare system and to protect the safety of the public as much as possible.
Q: Will I have to do On-Call?
This will depend on the individual department and staff dynamics of the hospital that you sign an employment contract with, typically most Doctors we work with only work 1 or 2 on calls per month.
Q: What are the chances of securing work in Dubai?
It is not possible to promise or guarantee securing work for any healthcare professional that we work with, however, we do only encourage Doctors and Nurses to work with us and invest in our services if we really feel that there is a significant chance that they will be successful in securing a work opportunity in Dubai – (based on our experience of being focused on this industry over the years).
We have strong market sensitivity of the Dubai Healthcare demands, we know which factors the hospitals are looking out for when reviewing CVs. There are certain specialties of Doctors and nurses that are always needed and difficult to find, so as a company these are the professionals we aim to focus on attracting and encouraging to work with us.
