Short answer: DHA’s CBT Guideline lists fourteen content areas for the Pharmacist exam, from toxicology and compounding to pharmacokinetics, medication safety and pharmacy law. It is 150 questions in three hours with a 60 percent pass score. DHA prints no weights, so cover all fourteen and do not trust a claimed split.
What topics are on the DHA pharmacist exam?
DHA lists fourteen content areas for the Pharmacist title (code PHO5481). The same fourteen appear for Clinical Pharmacy (PHO5482). The guideline files pharmacists under allied health, which is why some pages that look for a pharmacy group do not find one. Meddex is independent and is not connected to the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) or Prometric.
Key facts and where they come from
From DHA’s CBT Guideline, cover reads “Updated - Sep 2026”, read 15 and 18 October 2026, and the PQR, read 16 October 2026.
- Pharmacist: 150 questions, 3 hours, pass score 60 percent, fourteen content areas, no weights.
- Clinical Pharmacy: 150 questions, 3 hours, pass score 70 percent, the same fourteen areas.
- Pharmacy Technician: 150 questions, 3 hours, pass score 55 percent, nine areas.
- Qualification: a BSc in Pharmacy or a Doctor of Pharmacy, plus two years of experience after qualifying in the related field. Experience with pharmaceutical companies or as a sales representative is not accepted. Source: PQR table 18.27.
- The stated duration includes registration and introduction time.
The fourteen areas in plain words
DHA gives only the headings. The one-line notes below are ours and describe what each heading usually means in pharmacy teaching, not what DHA tests.
- Toxicology: poisoning, overdose and antidotes.
- Medicinal Chemistry: how a drug’s structure relates to its action and stability.
- Sterile and Nonsterile Compounding: preparing medicines, aseptic technique and standards for preparations.
- Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics: dosage forms, how a medicine is released, absorbed and made available.
- Pharmacognosy and Dietary Supplements: natural products, herbal medicines and supplement interactions.
- Pharmacy Calculation and Compounding: doses, dilutions, concentrations and infusion rates.
- Clinical Pharmacogenomics: how genes change the response to a drug.
- Infection Control: standard precautions, sterilisation and preventing spread.
- Pharmacokinetics: absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination and half-life.
- Pharmaceutical Care and Disease State Management: managing a patient’s therapy for a condition over time.
- Medication Safety: errors, look-alike names, high-alert drugs and reporting.
- Over the Counter Medication: advising on self-care, and when to refer.
- Pharmacy Law and Ethics: legal duties and professional conduct.
- Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutic Decision Making: choosing and monitoring a drug.
How to group fourteen areas for revision
This grouping is ours. It cuts the list into four blocks that suit how people study.
- Number work: Pharmacy Calculation and Compounding, Pharmacokinetics, and the dose side of Pharmaceutics. Practise daily, because speed comes only from repetition. See pharmacokinetics basics and calculation and counselling practice.
- Safety and standards: Medication Safety, Infection Control, Sterile and Nonsterile Compounding, Pharmacy Law and Ethics.
- Patient care: Pharmaceutical Care and Disease State Management, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutic Decision Making, Over the Counter Medication, Toxicology.
- Science and special topics: Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmacognosy, Clinical Pharmacogenomics.
A caution on pharmacy law
Law and ethics questions can depend on the legal setting. DHA does not say which law it assumes, so use the UAE or Dubai rules that apply to your practice, and check them in the source, not in a summary. Do not memorise a rule from a source that gives no date.
What does Meddex cover for pharmacists?
Meddex has a pharmacist track, but it is still growing, and the free page shows what is there now. Check the pharmacist hub and free pharmacist practice questions for the current coverage before you plan around it. For a week-by-week structure, the eight-week pharmacist plan is built on the same fourteen areas.
How should you practise the number-heavy areas?
Three of the fourteen headings are mostly number work: Pharmacy Calculation and Compounding, Pharmacokinetics and the dose side of Pharmaceutics. Practise them in short daily bursts, not one long weekly session, because speed comes from repetition. Write the units at every step, estimate the size of the answer before you calculate, and check by working backwards. A result that gives a dose ten times the usual is a signal to recheck the decimal point.
Keep a one-page sheet of the formulas you use and rewrite it from memory once a week. Then do timed mixed sets, so that you switch between calculation, safety and clinical questions as you will on the day.
What we do not know
Related guide
For how the pharmacist, clinical pharmacy and technician rows differ, see DHA pharmacy exams compared.
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 .