DOH License for Indian Doctors in Abu Dhabi (HAAD)

If you are searching for the HAAD exam, you are searching for something that changed its name. HAAD became the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, and the licence Indian doctors need for Abu Dhabi today is a DOH licence. The exam is still a Prometric paper, the process is still Dataflow first, but the authority has been called DOH for years and every official portal now uses that name.

That naming confusion costs Indian candidates real time, because searching under the old name turns up guidance written for a system that has moved on. This guide covers what a DOH license for Indian doctors actually requires in 2026.

DOH is not DHA, and the licence does not travel

A DOH licence lets you practise in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which includes Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, the SEHA hospitals and every private clinic from the corniche to Al Ain. It does not let you work in Dubai. Dubai is DHA, Sharjah is SHA, and the northern emirates run through the federal authority MOHAP.

This matters at the application stage because candidates routinely apply to the wrong authority for the job they actually want. Our comparison of DHA, MOHAP and DOH sets out which licence covers which emirate.

The step Abu Dhabi has that nobody else does

For most cadres the DOH assessment is a Prometric multiple choice paper set to the DOH blueprint, the same shape as the rest of the Gulf. The difference sits at the consultant level.

Consultants applying to Abu Dhabi, particularly in high stakes specialties such as cardiology, neurosurgery and interventional radiology, often face an additional in person interview panel with senior clinicians before their classification is finalised. No other UAE authority runs this.

For an Indian consultant this changes the preparation entirely. Passing the paper is necessary but it is not the last hurdle, and the panel is assessing clinical judgement and seniority rather than recall. Candidates who prepare only for the multiple choice paper are the ones caught out.

Which portal you use

Applications route through one of two places. Tamm is Abu Dhabi government services portal and is where individual candidates usually apply. Riayati is the DOH specific health system and is normally accessed by a sponsoring employer. Documents flow into the same evaluation queue either way, so the choice is about who is driving the application rather than about the outcome.

Unlike Qatar, where a facility has to open your file for you, an Indian doctor can begin a DOH application without an employer. That makes Abu Dhabi one of the routes you can start from India today.

DOH licence requirements for Indian doctors, document by document

Document	What Indian candidates need to watch
MBBS degree and transcripts	Transcripts for every academic year, not a consolidated marksheet alone
Internship completion certificate	Fixes the start of your post qualification clock and therefore your tier
Postgraduate certificate	MD, MS or DNB where you are applying above general practitioner level
Experience letters	Every year since qualification, exact dates, role, full time status and a named HR contact
Good standing certificate	From your state medical council, and valid within six months at submission
Home country licence	Current registration, not lapsed

The experience letters are where Indian files stall most often. A letter that states a period without exact dates cannot be verified, and Dataflow will return it. Ask for day, month and year, ask while you still have a relationship with the hospital, and ask in English.

Dataflow, the part that takes the longest

Primary source verification runs four to eight weeks and is the single longest step in any Gulf application. It contacts your university, your council and every employer named in your letters. Indian universities vary widely in how quickly they respond, and a single slow institution holds the whole report.

The practical defence is a complete submission the first time, because anything returned for correction restarts the slowest part of the process. Our guide to Dataflow verification covers what the report checks and how to prepare for it.

Preparing for the DOH exam from India

You can sit the paper at a Prometric centre in India once DOH releases the exam to you, so there is no need to travel before you are licensed. What matters is preparing against the right blueprint rather than general revision, since the paper is set to the standard expected of your title in that system.

Our comparison of passing scores across every GCC authority puts the numbers for DOH alongside the rest, and the practice banks are built chapter by chapter from the published blueprint for each title.

Abu Dhabi or Dubai for an Indian doctor?

Both are open to you and both let you start without an employer. Abu Dhabi carries the consultant panel, so at that level it is the harder of the two. Below consultant level the processes are comparable, and the honest deciding factor is usually where the job is.

You are also not locked in. Most of a Dataflow report can be reused when you cross from one emirate authority to another, so a first licence in either place keeps the other open. The DOH authority page and the DHA authority page set out both in detail.

Frequently asked questions

Is the HAAD exam the same as the DOH exam?

Yes, in practice. HAAD was the Health Authority Abu Dhabi and it became the Department of Health. The licence you apply for today is a DOH licence and the assessment is the DOH Prometric paper. Older guidance written under the HAAD name may describe portals and steps that no longer apply, which is the main reason to check the date on anything you read.

Do I need a job offer before applying to DOH?

No. An individual candidate can apply through Tamm without an employer, and the employer is needed at the activation stage. This is different from Qatar, where a facility has to open your file before anything can begin.

Does every consultant face the interview panel?

Not every one, but it is common at consultant level and more common in high stakes specialties such as cardiology, neurosurgery and interventional radiology. Prepare for it as a likely step rather than an exception, because a candidate who has prepared loses nothing and a candidate who has not can lose the classification.

Check your tier before you pay for Dataflow

The costly mistakes in an Abu Dhabi application happen before the exam. Applying under the wrong tier, submitting experience letters that cannot be verified, or ordering a good standing certificate too early all cost weeks and fees you cannot recover.

Our eligibility check is a paid review of your own file at USD 30.99. You send your qualification, registration and work history, and you get back which GCC authorities you qualify for today, the tier you would be classified under, and what your evidence is missing. If you are already licensed and want Abu Dhabi employers to find you, the talent pool carries your profile and live vacancies are posted as they open.