High-Yield Topics for the Prometric General Practice Exam (GEN5331): The 12 Blueprint Areas, the Most Repeated Questions in Each, and a Revision Checklist for DHA, MOHAP, SCFHS & QCHP Doctors

The General Practice paper is broad rather than deep. It is 150 single-best-answer questions in 3 hours with a 60% pass mark — 90 correct answers — and it draws from twelve areas listed in the official blueprint. No one revises all of undergraduate medicine in a month. What you can do is cover the patterns that recur. This is the doctors' counterpart to our high-yield list for nurses; for the licensing route itself see the GP exam guide.

How the paper thinks

Almost every question is a short clinical vignette ending in one of four stems: most likely diagnosis, next best step, most appropriate management or best initial investigation. The examiners are testing a safe first-contact doctor: recognise the emergency, start the correct first-line treatment, know when to refer. Rare syndromes are rare on the paper too.

1. Chronic diseases

• Hypertension: diagnosis thresholds, first-line drug choice by patient (ACE inhibitor or ARB with diabetes or proteinuria; avoid ACE inhibitors in pregnancy), target-organ screening, resistant hypertension work-up.
• Type 2 diabetes: diagnostic criteria (HbA1c, fasting glucose, OGTT), metformin first-line and its contraindications, annual retinal, renal and foot screening, hypoglycaemia management.
• Asthma and COPD: stepwise therapy, inhaler choice, spirometry patterns (obstructive vs restrictive), acute exacerbation management.
• Dyslipidaemia, hypothyroidism, chronic kidney disease, heart failure: first-line drug, monitoring test, one important side effect each.

2. Acute and common medical problems

• Community-acquired pneumonia — severity scoring and admit-or-treat-at-home decisions
• Urinary tract infection, including in pregnancy and in men
• Headache red flags; migraine acute treatment vs prophylaxis
• Anaemia — interpreting MCV, ferritin and the blood film; iron deficiency in an older adult means investigate the gut
• Peptic ulcer disease and H. pylori testing and eradication; GORD alarm features
• Gout vs septic arthritis; acute vs long-term gout drugs

3. Common paediatric problems

• Developmental milestones and the ages for red-flag delay
• Vaccination schedule and true contraindications
• Dehydration assessment and oral rehydration; when to give IV fluids
• Croup vs epiglottitis vs bronchiolitis — age, presentation, first step
• Febrile seizures — simple vs complex, what to tell parents
• Neonatal jaundice — physiological vs pathological timing
• Pyloric stenosis, intussusception and other surgical presentations in infants

4. Women's health

• Antenatal care schedule, routine screening, safe and unsafe drugs in pregnancy
• Pre-eclampsia recognition; magnesium sulphate for eclampsia
• Ectopic pregnancy — any woman of reproductive age with abdominal pain gets a pregnancy test
• Gestational diabetes screening and management
• Contraception — absolute contraindications to combined pills (migraine with aura, smokers over 35, history of VTE)
• Abnormal uterine bleeding by age group; postmenopausal bleeding needs endometrial assessment
• Cervical and breast screening intervals

5. Emergency problems

The highest-yield section per hour of study, because the answers are protocol-driven.

• Anaphylaxis: intramuscular adrenaline first, into the anterolateral thigh — before antihistamines or steroids.
• Acute coronary syndrome: ECG within minutes, aspirin, recognise STEMI territories, know reperfusion options.
• Diabetic ketoacidosis: fluids first, then insulin, watch potassium.
• Status epilepticus, acute severe asthma, sepsis bundles, stroke window, upper GI bleed: first drug and first action for each.
• Poisoning: paracetamol (N-acetylcysteine), opioids (naloxone), organophosphates (atropine), benzodiazepines, iron.
• BLS and ACLS algorithms — shockable vs non-shockable rhythms.

6. Common surgical problems

• Acute abdomen: appendicitis, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, perforation, obstruction — the distinguishing feature and the best first investigation
• Hernias: which strangulate, which need urgent referral
• Breast lump triple assessment; thyroid nodule work-up
• Perianal conditions; testicular torsion as a time-critical diagnosis
• Burns — rule of nines and fluid resuscitation; wound care and tetanus prophylaxis

7. Common psychiatric problems

• Depression — diagnostic criteria, SSRI first-line, how long to continue, suicide-risk assessment
• Generalised anxiety vs panic disorder; bipolar disorder and lithium monitoring and toxicity
• Delirium vs dementia — the classic distinguishing question
• Alcohol withdrawal and Wernicke's encephalopathy (thiamine before glucose)
• Schizophrenia first-rank symptoms; extrapyramidal side effects and neuroleptic malignant syndrome

8–9. Eye, ENT and dermatology

• Red eye: conjunctivitis vs keratitis vs uveitis vs acute angle-closure glaucoma — the painful red eye with reduced vision is a same-day referral
• Sudden painless visual loss; diabetic and hypertensive retinopathy
• Otitis media and externa, epistaxis management, peritonsillar abscess, vertigo differentiation (BPPV vs vestibular neuritis vs Ménière's)
• Skin: eczema, psoriasis, acne stepwise treatment, tinea, scabies, impetigo, urticaria, drug eruptions, and the ABCDE of melanoma

10. Epidemiology and evidence-based medicine

Expect six to ten questions, all learnable in two evenings: sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, relative and absolute risk, number needed to treat, study designs and their hierarchy, types of bias, and levels of prevention (primary, secondary, tertiary). Most candidates skip this block. Do not — these are the most predictable marks on the paper.

11–12. Family medicine concepts and screening

• Patient-centred consultation, breaking bad news, consent, confidentiality and capacity
• Periodic health examination by age group: blood pressure, lipids, diabetes, colorectal, breast, cervical, osteoporosis, abdominal aortic aneurysm
• Adult immunisation — influenza, pneumococcal, hepatitis B, travel and Hajj vaccines (meningococcal ACWY is a favourite in Gulf papers)
• Smoking cessation, obesity counselling and lifestyle modification

A four-week revision checklist

1. Week 1: chronic disease + acute medicine (the largest share of questions)
2. Week 2: emergencies + paediatrics
3. Week 3: women's health + surgery + psychiatry
4. Week 4: eye, ENT, skin, EBM, screening — then two full timed mocks

Work from the General Practice question bank (GEN5331), which is mapped to the same twelve areas, and keep an error log by area so your last week targets real weaknesses. Candidates aiming at family medicine posts should also see the Specialist Family Medicine bank (FAM5871). Reference texts and the daily timetable are in the resources guide and the 30-day study plan.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions are in the Prometric GP exam?

The General Practice paper (GEN5331) has 150 single-best-answer questions in three hours. The pass mark is 60%, which means at least 90 correct answers.

Which topics are most repeated in the Prometric exam for doctors?

Chronic disease management (hypertension, diabetes, asthma), emergency protocols (anaphylaxis, ACS, DKA), common paediatric presentations, antenatal care and pregnancy emergencies, and basic biostatistics recur in almost every sitting.

Is the GP exam the same for DHA, MOHAP and SCFHS?

The blueprint is closely similar across Gulf regulators because all test first-contact general practice, but each authority sets its own question count and pass mark. DHA and MOHAP use Prometric, DOH uses Pearson VUE, and Saudi Arabia uses the longer SMLE for the GP tier.

How long should a doctor study for the Prometric GP exam?

Most working doctors need four to eight weeks of consistent study — about two hours a day plus timed question practice — depending on how long ago they graduated.