Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners — General Surgery licensing examination
Gulf · QA · $99, the same everywhere
This exam has its own preparation
We publish the syllabus the QCHP is actually set from — in full, free, on that page — along with the two others of the Gulf. No other vendor does: they describe the syllabus, we print it. The oral simulator runs in the Saudi MCSA format, with its four competence domains and the fatal-error rule.
How this examination works
The Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners licenses practice in Qatar, and its general surgery examination is a hundred and fifty multiple-choice questions in three hours minutes with a 65% pass mark, delivered by Prometric. What sets Qatar apart from the other two Gulf authorities is that it PUBLISHES the weight of each area: its blueprint distributes the sixteen domains by percentage, and the two heaviest — Upper GI, and Colorectal and Perianal — carry 14% each. Dubai sets exactly the same sixteen domains and publishes no weights, so the Qatari figures are the best available guide to both papers, said with the caveat that they are Qatar’s.
Who can sit it
Here is the fact that decides whether you have to study at all. The QCHP sorts applicants into three categories according to the qualification they hold, and ONLY Category 3 sits the specialty examination — anyone in Categories 1 or 2 is exempt. Those two generally take holders of Western, Arab or Gulf board certifications, so a good share of the candidates who start preparing for this paper never had to. Find out your category before anything else. Worth adding: the Qatari document itself cites two Saudi Commission manuals among its six references. The Gulf syllabuses descend from a common pattern, which is why Dubai’s and Qatar’s match down to the names of the domains.
Checked against the body itself on 4 September 2026. Procedures change; if this no longer matches what you were asked for, write and tell us.
Examination structure
Source: https://dhp.moph.gov.qa/en/Documents/SpecialtyPhysicianBlueprintReference.pdf
What we have written against this syllabus
These are the domains as Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners — Department of Healthcare Professions publishes them, not our summary of them, with the number of questions we hold against each. A domain we have not covered is shown as zero rather than hidden.
| Domain | Questions |
|---|---|
| GS-01 Fluid and Electrolytes p. 21 | 500 |
| GS-02 Shock p. 21 | 450 |
| GS-03 Sepsis and Surgical Infections p. 21 | 550 |
| GS-04 Endocrine and Breast p. 21 | 1,050 |
| GS-05 Upper GI p. 21 | 1,050 |
| GS-06 Hepato-biliary p. 21 | 1,050 |
| GS-07 Patient Safety p. 21 | 250 |
| GS-08 Perioperative Care p. 21 | 250 |
| GS-09 Trauma and Critical Care p. 21 | 850 |
| GS-10 Colorectal and Perianal p. 21 | 1,151 |
| GS-11 Pancreas and Spleen p. 21 | 1,050 |
| GS-12 Hernia (all) p. 21 | 300 |
| GS-13 Vascular p. 21 | 150 |
| GS-14 Paediatrics p. 21 | 150 |
| GS-15 Skin and Soft Tissue p. 21 | 100 |
| GS-16 Professionalism and Ethics p. 21 | 250 |
4,351 distinct questions map to this syllabus. A question counts once per domain it serves, so the column adds up to more than the bank.
Common questions about this examination
What are the parts of the QCHP examination?
Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners — Department of Healthcare Professions sets 1 component: QCHP/DHP Specialty Physician — General Surgery (a written multiple-choice paper, 150 questions, 4 hours).
How many questions are in the QCHP examination?
150 across all written components, as published by Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners — Department of Healthcare Professions.
What does the QCHP syllabus cover?
16 domains published by Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners — Department of Healthcare Professions: Fluid and Electrolytes, Shock, Sepsis and Surgical Infections, Endocrine and Breast, Upper GI, Hepato-biliary, and others.
Where is the official QCHP syllabus published?
Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners — Department of Healthcare Professions publishes it at https://dhp.moph.gov.qa/en/Documents/SpecialtyPhysicianBlueprintReference.pdf. Our question mapping is taken from that document, domain by domain.
What is the QCHP examination like?
The Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners licenses practice in Qatar, and its general surgery examination is a hundred and fifty multiple-choice questions in three hours minutes with a 65% pass mark, delivered by Prometric. What sets Qatar apart from the other two Gulf authorities is that it PUBLISHES the weight of each area: its blueprint distributes the sixteen domains by percentage, and the two heaviest — Upper GI, and Colorectal and Perianal — carry 14% each. Dubai sets exactly the same sixteen domains and publishes no weights, so the Qatari figures are the best available guide to both papers, said with the caveat that they are Qatar’s.
Who can sit the QCHP?
Here is the fact that decides whether you have to study at all. The QCHP sorts applicants into three categories according to the qualification they hold, and ONLY Category 3 sits the specialty examination — anyone in Categories 1 or 2 is exempt. Those two generally take holders of Western, Arab or Gulf board certifications, so a good share of the candidates who start preparing for this paper never had to. Find out your category before anything else. Worth adding: the Qatari document itself cites two Saudi Commission manuals among its six references. The Gulf syllabuses descend from a common pattern, which is why Dubai’s and Qatar’s match down to the names of the domains.
Is there a question bank for the QCHP?
This one. 5,000 single-best-answer questions across the whole of general surgery, each with the reasoning for every option rather than only the correct one, written by a consultant surgical oncologist. It is written to the discipline, not transcribed from the QCHP blueprint — general surgery is general surgery wherever it is examined, and we say plainly which boards we have mapped and which we have not.
What level are the questions for the QCHP?
2,051 of the 5,000 — 41% — sit at the hardest level. For a licence like the QCHP that matters differently than it does for an exit board: this is not measuring a residency curriculum but clinical breadth to practise, so what fails candidates is rarely the hard subspecialty question and usually the on-call one that was assumed known. That is why the Gulf bank is cut to the published syllabuses.
What does preparation for the QCHP cost?
One payment of $99 for 180 days, the same from wherever you pay — there is no country pricing. It covers the whole bank, the oral simulator and the timed mock papers. Nothing renews and no card is kept on file afterwards. Fifty questions are free with an account, so you can judge the level before paying. All three Gulf syllabuses are published in full and free, whether you buy anything or not.
Every answer above is taken from the examining body’s own published document, not from our reading of it.
Other examinations in Gulf
- Dubai Health Authority — General Surgery licensing examination — Dubai Health Authority
- Saudi Commission for Health Specialties — General Surgery classification examination — Saudi Commission for Health Specialties
- UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention — General Surgery licensing examination — Ministry of Health and Prevention (northern emirates)
- Dubai Healthcare City Authority — General Surgery licensing examination — Dubai Healthcare City Authority
- Department of Health Abu Dhabi (formerly HAAD) — General Surgery licensing examination — Department of Health — Abu Dhabi
- Kuwait Ministry of Health — General Surgery licensing examination — Kuwait Ministry of Health
What the access covers for this examination
One access, one price: the whole bank, the timed mock papers and the oral simulator in the Saudi MCSA format. For this examination it also means the published syllabus, which is on that page in full and free whether you buy anything or not. One payment, no renewal, and the same price wherever you pay from.
180 days
$99
Up to 6 oral stations a day, examiner-led and marked by domain. The courses that prepare the Saudi oral charge for a single mock viva.