The DOH exam is the third of five stages: verify your documents, submit the application, pass the assessment, pass security clearance, then pay for and receive the licence. DOH runs all five through TAMM, the Abu Dhabi government service platform. This guide covers those stages and the requirements behind them. The exam itself, with formats, costs and booking rules by profession, is on our DOH exam page.
1. TAMM account and UAE PASS
You apply in TAMM and log in with UAE PASS, so a working UAE PASS identity comes first. An Abu Dhabi facility can submit for you through its own TAMM account, or you can apply yourself.
2. DataFlow verification addressed to DOH
DOH’s manual sends you to DataFlow for Primary Source Verification and gives 24 working days as the process time. It lists package prices of AED 1,260 for general practitioners and dentists, AED 1,680 for specialists and consultants and AED 990 for other categories. DOH accepts only reports addressed to DOH. A report you obtained for DHA or MOHAP has to be re-issued to DOH, and you can add documents when you request that.
3. Application and credentialing review
The application fee is AED 100. DOH then reviews your credentials against the PQR for the title you asked for. The manual sets out what it checks for most categories:
- a Good Standing Certificate (Certificate of Current Status) from each regulator you worked under, no older than six months;
- a licence or registration covering the experience you claim, and recent experience letters;
- a logbook for the last two years if you are a physician or dentist in a surgical specialty;
- a valid Basic Life Support card for nurses, midwives and complementary medicine practitioners;
- a nomination or offer letter from an Abu Dhabi facility, if you have one.
Whether you need the exam at all is decided here. The PQR’s exam-equivalency criteria apply, and DOH adds its own exemptions, for example a valid DHA or MOHAP licence for the same title.
4. The exam window
Approval opens the exam step. You pay DOH’s booking fee in TAMM, receive a Pearson VUE authorisation ID and book through Pearson VUE. The step is valid for six months. If you have not passed by then, the application closes automatically and you must submit a new one. To be approved for the exam you must not have failed the same title more than three times across the UAE health authorities.
5. Facility, security clearance and licence
If no facility was linked when you applied, a facility links you after the exam. TAMM places the facility nomination late in its sequence, so you can pass the exam before you have an Abu Dhabi employer. Security clearance follows, then the licence fee. TAMM issues a DOH licence for one or two years; DOH’s 2024 manual describes two years as the standard. TAMM gives three months as the published time for the whole service.
Returning to DOH
If you have held a DOH licence before, the Re-Registration service applies instead. It needs PSV only for a new title or recent experience gained outside Abu Dhabi. A new exam is needed if you ask for a new title, if your DOH licence expired or was cancelled more than five years ago, or if you are returning after completing gap-of-practice requirements.
Sources, checked 9 October 2026: DOH Licensing Procedure Manual: Licensing Exam (Circular 151/2024, 26 August 2024), new licence, examination and re-registration steps and FAQs 2.3 and 3.12; TAMM, Issue a Healthcare Professional Licence; Pearson VUE’s DOH page. Links below.