Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), the world’s largest healthcare free zone, has added 34 countries to the licensing framework for its healthcare and CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) professionals, totalling to 63 countries.

Professionals from these new countries must have the requisite undergraduate and postgraduate education, training and certification, and must meet requirements of examination, supervised clinical practice and case submission.

Regulation and licensure of DHCC-based healthcare professionals and healthcare operators is handled by the Center for Healthcare Planning and Quality (CPQ), an independent regulator overseen by Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA), the governing body and regulator of Dubai Healthcare City.

Dr Raja Easa Al Gurg, vice-chairperson, DHCA, said: “With regular reviews and re-assessment of growing healthcare needs in the region, we are look to strengthen DHCC’s regulatory framework. The updated licensing framework is in line with the agreement signed by UAE health authorities for the unification of medical licensing, and in line with the Dubai Smart Government initiative.”

Dr Ramadan Ibrahim, managing director, Dubai Healthcare City - Regulatory, said: “When we first established the regulatory framework, we started with the countries and/or boards that were most developed, backed by accreditation and strong regulatory framework. We have since been aware of the need to review and update. We recognize that healthcare professionals from the list of new countries offer quality skills and expertise in accordance with DHCC’s stringent set of medical standards.”

The Dubai Healthcare City Authority online exam is a non-eligibility exam administered by Prometric. Once a candidate passes the exam, he or she can apply for licensure through CPQ provided all other eligibility requirements are met for that specific professional category.

In tandem with the licensing framework, online examinations for healthcare professionals including physicians and dentists have been increased from 11 to 15.

The new list of countries was evaluated against comprehensive criteria including undergraduate training, undergraduate medical/dental education, examination assessment, postgraduate medical/dental education, certification/qualification, licensing/registration, and accredited institutions. In additional to various boards, CPQ recognizes the Arab Board.

The 34 additional countries are, from the Mena region - Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon,  Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen; from Eastern Europe – Malta, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovak Republic and Ukraine; from the Indian Subcontinent - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh; and from South East Asia, the Philippines.

The revised list of online examinations includes gastroenterology; general dentistry; general medicine; general surgery; internal medicine; obstetrics and gynaecology; orthodontics; orthopaedic surgery; paediatrics; periodontics; prosthodontics; radiological technology; registered nurse; midwifery and physical therapy. – TradeArabia News Service