The Dubai Health Authority(DHA) is set to begin implementation of unified medical professionals licensure process from October 12, said a top health official.

The move is in line with the agreement that was signed by UAE health authorities for the unification of licenses for medical practitioners in the country, on the sidelines of Arab Health Exhibition and Congress, in January, this year.

Essa Al Maidoor, director-general of DHA, said: “The agreement paves way for medical professionals to work across the UAE and is important as it unifies as well as streamlines the professional medical licensure process.

“The move has several benefits for the healthcare sector. With the introduction of this process, all healthcare professionals will be evaluated based on the same criteria across UAE.”

All professionals graduating from accredited local programs within UAE will be exempted from experience requirement so that they can begin practice in their field of medicine or nursing after completion of medical programme and internship. For the first two years, they will work under supervision in a secondary or tertiary hospital, he added.

For certain certificate holders, the number of years required for a specialist physician/dentist to be a consultant has been reduced from eight to five years as a means to provide growth opportunities to medical professionals, said Al Maidoor.

The holders of American board, Canadian board, and Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST) holders from UK will be eligible to be consultants directly, he said.

Dr Layla Al Marzouqi, acting-director of Health Regulation Department at DHA, said: “ More recognised specialties have been added to the ‘physician and dentist’ list of specialties. In addition, more titles have been added to different healthcare categories such as specialist nurse, and clinical pharmacist.”

The Ozone therapy has been added to the traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) specialties, she said.

It will now be possible for local healthcare professionals with a gap of 10 years and expatriate medical professionals with a gap of five years to return to practice after meeting certain stringent criteria, she added. - TradeArabia News Service