Short answer: DHA’s guideline gives the Pharmacist exam 150 questions in three hours, including registration time, with a 60 percent pass score and fourteen content areas but no weights. This eight-week plan covers every area once, repeats calculations weekly, and keeps the last two weeks for timed mocks and repair.
What DHA states for the Pharmacist title
These facts are from DHA’s CBT Guideline (cover reads “Updated - Sep 2026”). The Pharmacist title has 150 questions in 3 hours, and DHA says the duration includes registration and the introduction, so answering time is shorter. The pass score is 60 percent for a Pharmacist, 70 for Clinical Pharmacy and 55 for Pharmacy Technician. The guideline puts pharmacists under Allied Health. DHA can change any of this without updating the document, so re-read it before you book.
Meddex is independent and is not connected to the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) or Prometric.
DHA says MCQs. It does not say single best answer or how many options. It publishes no sample questions and no weights, so weak areas are for you to find.
The fourteen content areas
DHA lists these for a Pharmacist, in this order: toxicology, medicinal chemistry, sterile and nonsterile compounding, pharmaceutics and biopharmaceutics, pharmacognosy and dietary supplements, pharmacy calculation and compounding, clinical pharmacogenomics, infection control, pharmacokinetics, pharmaceutical care and disease state management, medication safety, over the counter medication, pharmacy law and ethics, and clinical pharmacology and therapeutic decision making.
The guideline also lists references. Use them to find the depth of reading that DHA expects, and check which law applies where you will practise, because the guideline does not summarise it for you.
The shape of the eight weeks
Plan for eight to ten hours a week. Each week has one main topic block, a short calculation set and a set of mixed questions.
- Week 1: baseline set of 40 mixed questions, build your area checklist, and start calculations (units, dilutions, percentage strength).
- Week 2: pharmacokinetics and the pharmacokinetics basics, then pharmaceutics and biopharmaceutics.
- Week 3: sterile and nonsterile compounding, with the calculations that go with them.
- Week 4: clinical pharmacology and therapeutic decision making, part one: cardiovascular, respiratory and endocrine.
- Week 5: part two: infection, central nervous system, gastrointestinal and renal, plus clinical pharmacogenomics.
- Week 6: pharmaceutical care and disease state management, over the counter medication, and dietary supplements.
- Week 7: medication safety, infection control, toxicology, medicinal chemistry and law and ethics.
- Week 8: two timed mocks, review, and a light final two days.
How one week runs
Day 1 and day 2: read for the main topic in short blocks and write one-line rules. Day 3: twenty questions on that topic in tutor mode. Day 4: calculations, five problems. Day 5: mixed set of thirty questions that includes old topics. Day 6: review every error. Day 7: rest or a light flashcard set.
The order matters less than the habit of coming back. A topic you studied in week 2 should appear in a mixed set in week 3, in week 5 and again in the mocks.
Why calculations get a slot every week
The coverage list names pharmacy calculation and compounding, and the topic appears inside compounding, pharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics too. Meddex cannot say how many calculation items appear in the exam, but a calculation is a skill that fades fast without practice, and every mark is the same size. Keep to one method: write the units, convert first, calculate, then check that the answer is plausible. The DHA dosage calculations guide shows the routine.
Mocks in weeks 7 and 8
Sit a full 150-question mock in three hours, with no pause. Then spend as long reviewing it as you spent sitting it. Group every miss by content area and by cause: knowledge gap, misread stem, calculation slip or time. Use the result to set the last week. The mock exam analysis guide has the method.
For pacing, 180 minutes over 150 questions is 72 seconds a question, and the real figure is lower because registration time is inside the three hours. Practise at a little under 70 seconds.
Where Meddex fits
The Meddex question bank is largest for nurses and physicians, and pharmacist content is still growing, so check the app for what is available now. Where it helps, use the flashcards for facts you must recall, such as antidotes and storage rules, and use the DHA exam for pharmacists page for the official facts in one place. For your own title’s format, see DHA exam format and pass mark by title.
If you have more or less time
With four weeks, merge weeks 2 and 3, weeks 4 and 5, and weeks 6 and 7, and keep one mock. With twelve, add a mixed-practice week after every two topic weeks. Whatever the length, keep the last week for rest, flagged questions and one short timed set, not new material.
Frequently asked questions
This article is general educational guidance, not official advice. Exam rules, fees and timelines are set by the Dubai Health Authority and the test provider and can change, so always confirm the latest details on their official channels. Review of Meddex content by named, licensed clinicians is not complete yet. See how we write and check our content.
Last updated .