Prometric Exam for Intensivists: Specialist Critical Care Medicine Licence for DHA, MOHAP, DOH, SCFHS & QCHP — Blueprint, 65% Pass Mark, Who Qualifies (EDIC, IDCCM, FNB, DM), ICU Doctors on Other Licences and Salaries (2026)

Every new Gulf hospital opens with more ICU beds than the last, and accreditation standards increasingly expect a trained intensivist to lead the unit. Yet the people staffing those units hold a mix of licences. Before you prepare for an exam, work out which one applies to you — it is the most common source of confusion we see among ICU doctors.

Four ways doctors work in a Gulf ICU

Your qualification	Licence title	Exam
Dedicated critical care qualification: DM or DrNB critical care, FNB critical care, a recognised fellowship with certification, North American or Australasian critical care boards	Specialist Critical Care Medicine	ICU5231
MD, DNB or FCPS anaesthesia	Specialist Anesthesia (ICU cover within the department)	Anaesthesia guide
MD, DNB or FCPS medicine or pulmonology	Specialist Internal Medicine / Pulmonary Disease	INT5921 / PUL5081
MBBS with ICU experience	General Practitioner (works as ICU resident / medical officer)	GP guide

The grey area is the add-on credential: EDIC, IDCCM, a one-year fellowship, a postgraduate diploma. These sit on top of a base specialty. Regulators assess them case by case; on their own they do not usually support the Critical Care Medicine title, but combined with a full base qualification (anaesthesia, medicine, emergency medicine) and substantial ICU experience they strengthen both the classification and the job offer. If your base qualification is sound, the safe route is to license on it and present the critical care credential for privileging. Run the eligibility check and read the recognition guide before choosing a title.

The exam

• 150 single-best-answer questions, 3 hours, pass mark 65% — 98 correct answers
• References: Hall, Schmidt and Wood's Principles of Critical Care, Marino's The ICU Book, Harrison's and Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment

Two general medicine texts on the list are a signal: the paper tests the internal medicine of the critically ill as much as it tests ventilators.

The blueprint

1. Pulmonary disease and mechanical ventilation — modes and initial settings, lung-protective ventilation (tidal volume by predicted body weight, plateau and driving pressure), PEEP strategy, prone positioning, refractory hypoxaemia and ECMO referral, auto-PEEP in obstructive disease, non-invasive ventilation and high-flow oxygen, weaning and extubation readiness, ventilator-associated pneumonia, massive haemoptysis, pulmonary embolism
2. Cardiovascular disease and haemodynamics — shock classification by haemodynamic profile, fluid responsiveness (dynamic indices and their limits), vasopressor and inotrope choice, cardiogenic shock and mechanical support, arrhythmias, post-cardiac-arrest care and temperature control, hypertensive emergencies, right ventricular failure
3. Infectious diseases — sepsis definitions and the first-hour bundle, source control, empirical antibiotics by site and de-escalation, invasive fungal infection, catheter-related infection, multidrug-resistant organisms, infection in the immunocompromised
4. Renal, endocrine and metabolic disorders — acute kidney injury staging, renal replacement indications and modality, acid–base interpretation with anion and osmolar gaps, sodium disorders and safe correction rates, DKA and HHS, adrenal crisis, thyroid storm and myxoedema coma, glycaemic targets
5. Neurological disorders — raised intracranial pressure management, status epilepticus, stroke and subarachnoid haemorrhage, neuromuscular respiratory failure, delirium, sedation and analgesia scales, death by neurological criteria
6. Gastrointestinal disorders — GI bleeding, acute liver failure, severe pancreatitis, abdominal compartment syndrome, nutrition (route, timing, targets), stress-ulcer prophylaxis
7. Haematological and oncological disorders — transfusion thresholds, massive transfusion, DIC, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, thrombotic microangiopathy, tumour lysis, neutropenic sepsis, VTE prophylaxis
8. Pharmacology and toxicology — altered pharmacokinetics in critical illness, dosing in renal replacement, toxidromes and antidotes, extracorporeal removal of toxins
9. Critical care radiology — lines and tubes on the chest film, pneumothorax in the supine patient, point-of-care ultrasound (lung, cardiac, IVC, FAST)
10. Obstetric critical care — pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, HELLP, major obstetric haemorrhage, amniotic fluid embolism, peripartum cardiomyopathy, physiological changes that alter resuscitation
11. Patient safety, professionalism and ethics — care bundles, handover, family communication, withholding and withdrawing treatment, do-not-resuscitate decisions, organ donation

What repeats

• Ventilator arithmetic. Predicted body weight, 6 mL/kg, plateau pressure limits, driving pressure, minute ventilation and what to change for pH versus for oxygenation.
• Acid–base. One structured method applied to a gas: expect at least five questions.
• Shock profiles. Cardiac output, filling pressures and systemic resistance in each type, and the first drug.
• Sepsis first hour and antibiotic choice by source.
• Sodium correction limits and osmotic demyelination.
• Renal replacement indications and drug dosing on CRRT.
• Brain-death testing preconditions and confounders.
• Alarm troubleshooting. High pressure vs low pressure, and the "disconnect and bag" first response to sudden deterioration.
• Bundles. VAP, central line and catheter-associated UTI prevention.

Practising in a Gulf ICU

• Closed vs open units. Large government and tertiary hospitals run closed, intensivist-led units; many private hospitals run open units where the admitting consultant keeps decision-making. Ask at interview — it changes the job completely.
• The team. Respiratory therapists manage ventilators day to day in most Gulf ICUs, particularly in Saudi Arabia, and clinical pharmacists round with the team in accredited units.
• End-of-life decisions follow each country's law and the hospital's policy; do-not-resuscitate frameworks exist but vary, and family involvement is central. Procedures are taught at onboarding; the principles are examinable.
• Certificates. BLS and ACLS are universal; ATLS, PALS and FCCS are commonly requested. Ultrasound and ECMO training materially improve offers.

Process

1. Portal registration and title selection — after the eligibility question above is settled.
2. DataFlow verification of every qualification, registration and experience (guide). Experience letters must name the unit and your role.
3. Eligibility, booking (lead times), exam.
4. Offer, credentialing and privileging (airway, lines, bronchoscopy, percutaneous tracheostomy, ultrasound), activation.

Fees are in the fee guide.

Salaries (monthly, 2026)

Country	ICU resident (GP licence)	Specialist (critical care or base specialty in ICU)	Consultant intensivist
UAE	AED 16,000–26,000	AED 38,000–58,000	AED 60,000–100,000
Saudi Arabia	SAR 13,000–22,000	SAR 32,000–52,000	SAR 55,000–85,000
Qatar	QAR 16,000–25,000	QAR 35,000–55,000	QAR 55,000–90,000

Compare rota patterns as well as figures — 12-hour versus 24-hour shifts and paid versus unpaid on-call change the real value of an offer. Use the salary calculator and register in the talent pool.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a critical care licence with EDIC or IDCCM?

These are add-on credentials assessed case by case. On their own they do not usually support the Critical Care Medicine title, but with a full base specialty and substantial ICU experience they strengthen classification and privileging. Check eligibility before choosing a title.

What is the pass mark for the critical care Prometric exam?

65%. The Specialist Critical Care Medicine paper has 150 single-best-answer questions in three hours, so 98 correct answers are needed.

Can an anaesthetist work in the ICU without a critical care licence?

Yes. In most hospitals ICU cover is part of the anaesthesia department's work and is done on the anaesthesia licence, with procedures privileged by the hospital.

Can an MBBS doctor work in a Gulf ICU?

Yes, as an ICU resident or medical officer on a General Practitioner licence, working under a specialist-led team. ICU experience does not convert an MBBS into a specialist title.