Prometric Exam for Specialist Doctors: Internal Medicine, Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, General Surgery and Family Medicine — Blueprints, Pass Marks, Eligibility and Preparation (2026)
Specialists do not sit the GP paper. Each specialty has its own 150-question Prometric exam with its own blueprint and its own pass mark — 60% for internal medicine, obstetrics and family medicine, 65% for general surgery, 70% for paediatrics. This guide compares the five most-sat specialist papers, explains who is exempt, how Specialist and Consultant titles are awarded, and how to prepare while working full time.
A doctor with a postgraduate qualification — MD, MS, DNB, FCPS, MRCP, Arab Board, a fellowship — is licensed in the Gulf as a Specialist or Consultant, not as a GP, and sits a specialty exam rather than the general paper. The five specialty papers below account for most of the specialist candidates we see. All figures are from the current official exam guideline.
The five papers side by side
| Specialty (code) | Questions | Time | Pass mark | Correct answers needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internal Medicine (INT5921) | 150 | 3 h | 60% | 90 |
| Paediatrics (PED5391) | 150 | 3 h | 70% | 105 |
| Obstetrics & Gynaecology (OBG5891) | 150 | 3 h | 60% | 90 |
| General Surgery (GEN5341) | 150 | 3 h | 65% | 98 |
| Family Medicine (FAM5871) | 150 | 3 h | 60% | 90 |
The pass mark is not uniform. Paediatrics at 70% is one of the highest on the whole schedule — fifteen more correct answers than internal medicine on a paper of the same length. Plan your preparation time accordingly. Pass marks for other authorities are in the pass-score comparison.
Who sits a specialist exam — and who is exempt
UAE regulators (DHA, DOH, MOHAP) share a unified qualification framework that sorts postgraduate qualifications into tiers. In outline:
- Tier 1 qualifications — for example American Board certification, UK CCT, Canadian and Australasian fellowships — are generally exempt from the written exam and may be licensed directly as Specialist, or as Consultant with the required post-qualification experience.
- Tier 2 and Tier 3 qualifications — which include most MD/MS, DNB, FCPS and Arab Board holders depending on the specialty and year — sit the specialty exam and need more post-qualification experience before the Consultant title.
Where your own qualification falls is covered in the FCPS, MRCP, MD and Arab Board recognition guide and the exemptions guide. In Saudi Arabia, SCFHS classifies doctors as Registrar, Senior Registrar or Consultant through Mumaris+ and sets its own specialty exams; in Qatar, QCHP applies a similar category system. Run the eligibility check before paying any fee — being assessed for the wrong title is the most expensive mistake specialists make.
What each blueprint covers
Internal Medicine (INT5921)
Cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, infectious diseases, nephrology, rheumatology, endocrinology, neuroscience, haematology, oncology, emergency medicine and patient safety. Cardiology, endocrine and infectious disease carry the most questions in practice; rheumatology and haematology are where well-prepared candidates pull ahead.
Paediatrics (PED5391)
Growth, development, adolescent and behavioural medicine; gastroenterology; acute care across ER, PICU and NICU; metabolic and endocrine; allergy, immunology and infectious disease; respiratory; cardiovascular; haematology-oncology; neurology; renal and musculoskeletal; ethics and patient safety. Neonatology and acute care together are the largest share. With a 70% bar, there is no room to drop a whole subspecialty.
Obstetrics & Gynaecology (OBG5891)
General obstetrics, general gynaecology, maternal-fetal medicine, gynaecological oncology, urogynaecology and pelvic floor, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, perioperative management, ethics and patient safety. Labour-ward emergencies — shoulder dystocia, PPH, eclampsia, cord prolapse — are tested as "next step" questions every sitting.
General Surgery (GEN5341)
Fluids and electrolytes, shock, sepsis and surgical infection, endocrine and breast, upper GI, hepatobiliary, pancreas and spleen, colorectal and perianal, hernia, vascular, paediatric surgery, skin and soft tissue, trauma and critical care, perioperative care, ethics and patient safety. Trauma, hepatobiliary and colorectal dominate.
Family Medicine (FAM5871)
The broadest paper: family medicine principles plus internal medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, surgery, psychiatry, adult and paediatric emergencies, dermatology, musculoskeletal, ophthalmology, ENT and radiology. It reads like a harder GP paper with more management-over-time questions.
The two blocks specialists forget
Four of the five blueprints list Professionalism and Ethics and Patient Safety as examinable areas, with named reference handbooks. These are 10–15 questions that experienced clinicians tend to answer from instinct — and instinct formed in another health system is often wrong on the paper. Consent, disclosure of error, incident reporting, medication-safety principles and the WHO surgical checklist are all fair game. Read the handbooks once; it is the best return on two hours you will get.
Preparing while working full time
- Audit first. Sit 50 timed questions cold. Specialists are usually strong in their daily subspecialty and weak in areas they last saw in training.
- Eight to ten weeks, 90 minutes a day. Question-led: do a block, read around every error in the listed reference text. Do not start by re-reading the textbook.
- Update to current guidelines. Papers are revised against current international guidelines; management you learned a decade ago may now be the wrong option.
- Train the pace. 150 questions in 180 minutes is 72 seconds each. Two full-length timed mocks minimum (first-attempt strategy).
Beyond the written paper
Depending on authority and title, specialists may also face an oral or clinical assessment, a logbook or case-volume review for surgical specialties, and proof of recent practice — a gap of more than two years usually triggers additional requirements (gap rules). DataFlow verifies the postgraduate qualification as well as the primary degree, so budget for the extra document (fees).
Salaries
Specialist packages in the UAE typically run AED 30,000–55,000 a month and Consultant packages AED 50,000–90,000 and above, with procedural and surgical specialties at the upper end; Saudi and Qatari packages are comparable, often with housing included. Model your own in the salary calculator and register in the talent pool — hospitals request specialists by subspecialty.
Frequently asked questions
Do specialist doctors have to take the Prometric exam?
Most do. Holders of Tier 1 qualifications such as American Board certification or a UK CCT are generally exempt from the written exam in the UAE, while most other postgraduate qualifications require the specialty paper.
What is the pass mark for the specialist Prometric exam?
It varies by specialty. In the current guideline internal medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology and family medicine require 60%, general surgery 65% and paediatrics 70%, each on a 150-question, three-hour paper.
Can I sit the GP exam instead of the specialist exam?
You can apply as a GP using only your primary degree, but you would be licensed and paid as a GP. To hold a Specialist or Consultant title you must be assessed on your postgraduate qualification.
What is the difference between Specialist and Consultant in the GCC?
Both require a recognised postgraduate qualification. The Consultant title additionally requires a set number of years of experience after that qualification, and the number depends on the tier of the qualification and the authority.
Practice banks for this exam
Chapter-wise MCQs with written reasoning on every question, and timed mocks at the real pass mark.