Qatar
How the Ministry of Public Health's Department of Healthcare Professions evaluates and licenses physicians: categories, experience, the qualifying exam and the exams accepted instead, verification and documents.
✓ Last verified 12 November 2026
On this page
- Regulator
- Department of Healthcare Professions (DHP), Ministry of Public Health — official site
- Route for an Indian MBBS graduate
- Two stages through the DHP: an evaluation of qualifications and experience, which ends in approval to register, and then licensing, once a licensed health facility in Qatar employs you. A temporary licence of six months can bridge the two.
- Examinations
- DHP qualifying examination: computer-based, run by Prometric, 150 multiple-choice questions in three hours; pass mark 60% for general practitioners and 65% for most specialty physicians; unlimited attempts
- For general practitioners, the guidelines accept instead: IFOM Clinical Science (minimum score 60), USMLE Step 2, PLAB Part 1, MCCQE Part 1, the AMC MCQ, PRES-MCQ Part 2 and MRCGP Part 1 (AKT)
- Credential verification
- Primary source verification by a verification company approved by the DHP, which replaces attestation of certificates. The certificate of good standing must also be verified this way before it is uploaded.
- Documents named by the regulator
- Valid passport
- Qatar ID (front and back) or national ID
- Recent photograph
- CV in the DHP template
- Academic certificates with official transcripts
- Work experience certificates for the last five years
- Medical registrations or licences covering that experience
- Primary source verification report
- Qualifying examination certificate, where it applies
- At licensing: police clearance, a medical report valid for six months, a CPR course and a certificate of good standing
Qatar licenses physicians through the Department of Healthcare Professions of the Ministry of Public Health. The process has two stages. First the DHP evaluates your qualifications and experience; a preliminary evaluation is valid for six months, and the DHP gives itself about 25 working days to review. Then, once a licensed facility in Qatar employs you, you apply for the licence itself, which it reviews in about 15 working days. A non-renewable temporary licence of six months can let you start work while the licence is processed.
Which category you fall into
| Category | What it needs |
|---|---|
| General practitioner | A medical degree from a school listed in the World Directory (IMED FAIMER), at least six years of undergraduate study, and five years of clinical experience for applicants from overseas. The qualifying exam, unless you hold one of the exams the guidelines accept instead |
| GP (supervised) | The same degree, with no experience required, working under supervision |
| Specialty, Category 1 | An approved specialty qualification and one year of clinical experience after it; no DHP exam |
| Specialty, Category 2 | An approved specialty qualification and two years of experience after it; no DHP exam |
| Specialty, Category 3 | Three years of structured postgraduate training, three years of experience in government or semi-government institutions or qualifying training hospitals, and the DHP exam |
The guidelines set out the approved specialty qualifications country by country. For India the list names the DM, MCh and FNB. Qualifications that are not on the list, or that come from countries not in the table, are assessed under Category 3. Indian MD, MS and DNB qualifications do not appear in India’s row, so check the current table before you apply.
The qualifying examination
The DHP’s qualifying examination is a computer-based exam run by Prometric: 150 multiple-choice questions in three hours for every discipline. The pass mark is 60% for general practitioners and 65% for most specialty physicians, with no rounding, and you may sit it any number of times. The DHP links a separate circular listing the certificates that exempt their holders; that circular could not be read when this page was written.
English
The guidelines name no English test. They ask that documents in a language other than Arabic or English be officially translated into one of the two.
Before you apply
Your certificates are checked by primary source verification through a company the DHP approves, which replaces attestation by the issuing authorities. Keep the five years of experience certificates and the matching registrations together, because the evaluation asks for both, and the certificate of good standing at licensing must cover the years of experience required.
Changes to this page
- Page published from the DHP's Guidelines for Physicians and its qualifying examination page
Sources
- Guidelines for PhysiciansCited for: Flow charts 1–2 (pages 3–4); section 1 (pages 5–12); Tables 1–3 (pages 9–19); sections 2–3 (pages 26–31) guidelines
- Qualifying Examination regulator page
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