Prometric Exam for Doctors: GP & Specialist Requirements, GEN5331 Blueprint and Study Plan (2026)

For doctors, the Prometric exam is less a knowledge test than a classification test: the authority first decides whether you are a General Practitioner, Specialist or Consultant, and that decision picks your exam, your pay scale and the jobs you can apply for. Get the classification right and the exam is manageable. Get it wrong and you sit the wrong paper or lose a fee.

Step one: which title are you?

Title	Typical requirement (UAE PQR / SCFHS)	Exam
General Practitioner	MBBS + internship + 1–2 years' post-registration experience	GEN5331 General Practice
Specialist	Recognised postgraduate qualification (MD/MS, DNB, FCPS, MRCP, MRCOG, FRCS, board certification) + 2–3 years' post-qualification experience	Specialty paper (e.g. INT5921 Internal Medicine, PED5391 Paediatrics, OBG5891 Obs & Gynae)
Consultant	Specialist criteria + 3–5 further years, often a Tier 1 board or fellowship	Consultant paper or exam-exempt (assessment by interview/CV)

Common traps: a two-year diploma (DCH, DGO, DA) does not qualify for Specialist with most authorities; a master's obtained by coursework without clinical training may be downgraded; and experience counted must be after the qualifying degree. Run the eligibility check to see how each authority would classify you before you pay anything.

Requirements by authority

• DHA (Dubai) — GP: 2 years' experience; Specialist: 3 years post-qualification. Prometric exam; highest competition.
• MOHAP (northern emirates) — same PQR as DHA, cheaper, faster. Prometric.
• DOH (Abu Dhabi) — same PQR; Pearson VUE exam (guide).
• SCFHS (Saudi) — classification via Mumaris+ into Resident/GP, Registrar, Senior Registrar, Consultant; Saudi Licensing Exam via Prometric (Mumaris+ guide).
• QCHP (Qatar) — GP: 3 years' experience typical; Specialist: 3 years post-qualification; strict on internship documentation.
• NHRA / OMSB — 1–2 years for GP; fastest processing.

The GEN5331 General Practice blueprint

• Internal medicine — 25–30%: hypertension, diabetes and complications, ACS and heart failure, asthma/COPD, pneumonia, UTI, thyroid, anaemia, CKD, hepatitis, TB, HIV basics.
• Paediatrics — 12–15%: fever without source, dehydration and ORS, bronchiolitis, croup, vaccination schedule, developmental milestones, neonatal jaundice.
• Obstetrics & gynaecology — 10–12%: antenatal screening, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, PPH, contraception, PCOS, abnormal uterine bleeding.
• Surgery and trauma — 10–12%: acute abdomen, hernias, appendicitis, ATLS primary survey, burns calculation, fracture first aid.
• Emergency medicine — 8–10%: ACLS algorithms, anaphylaxis, DKA, status epilepticus, stroke thrombolysis windows, sepsis bundles.
• Psychiatry — 5–7%: depression screening and SSRIs, suicide risk, delirium vs dementia, substance withdrawal.
• Dermatology, ENT, ophthalmology — 5–7%: red eye, otitis media, epistaxis, common rashes.
• Public health, ethics, communication — 5–8%: screening intervals, notifiable diseases, consent, confidentiality, breaking bad news.

Specialist papers weight 80%+ to the specialty and keep a slice of general medicine and professionalism. The full profession-by-profession breakdown is in our syllabus guide.

How the questions are written

Almost every item is a clinical vignette ending in “most appropriate next step”, “most likely diagnosis” or “most appropriate initial management”. They reward guideline-level knowledge (NICE, AHA/ACC, ADA, GINA, WHO) rather than textbook detail. Two rules that recover marks:

1. When two options are both correct, choose the safer or earlier one — GCC exams are written by patient-safety committees.
2. “Initial” means the first thing you do in the room (ABC, oxygen, IV access), not the definitive treatment.

Worked examples in the sample questions guide.

Eight-week study plan for GPs

• Weeks 1–3: internal medicine by system, one guideline summary per topic; 40 practice questions daily from the General Practice bank.
• Week 4: paediatrics and obstetrics — memorise the vaccine schedule, milestone table, antenatal timeline.
• Week 5: emergency algorithms and surgery — ACLS, ATLS, sepsis, DKA on one page each.
• Week 6: psychiatry, derm/ENT/eyes, ethics and public health.
• Weeks 7–8: three full timed mocks, error log by domain, taper. Target a consistent 75%+ before test day. The first-attempt method covers the technique side.

Fees, timeline and salaries

Budget USD 1,000–2,000 in total (DataFlow, application, exam, licence — itemised in the fee guide) and 3–5 months to licence eligibility. Approximate tax-free monthly pay: GP AED 15,000–30,000 (UAE), SAR 15,000–30,000 (KSA); Specialist AED 30,000–60,000; Consultant AED 60,000–120,000+. Full table in the salary comparison.

Next steps

Confirm your classification with the eligibility check, start DataFlow, and begin the GEN5331 practice bank. Authority-specific pages: DHA exam for doctors, SCFHS exam for doctors, QCHP exam for doctors.

Frequently asked questions

Can a fresh MBBS graduate take the Prometric exam?

With most authorities you need 1–2 years' post-internship experience for General Practitioner. SCFHS may classify very recent graduates at resident level, and NHRA and OMSB accept one year.

Is MD/MS from India or FCPS from Pakistan accepted as a Specialist qualification?

Yes — MD/MS, DNB and FCPS are recognised postgraduate qualifications under the UAE PQR and by SCFHS, subject to the required post-qualification experience.

Which Prometric exam code is for general practitioners?

GEN5331 (General Practice). Specialists sit a specialty-specific code such as INT5921 for Internal Medicine or PED5391 for Paediatrics.

Are doctors with MRCP or USMLE exempt from the Prometric exam?

Often, for Specialist and Consultant titles: Tier 1 qualifications such as US board certification, UK CCT and some Royal College memberships can exempt you from the assessment. See our exemptions guide.