Ultimate Guide to Practicing Medicine in Qatar

The State of Qatar is a small country on a peninsula with miles of beachfront, jutting into the Persian Gulf. It’s also one of the wealthiest countries in the world, home to man-made islands like Pearl Island and Banana Island and Education City, which houses a modern library, a university campus, and other cultural institutions. For physicians interested in practicing medicine in Qatar, here’s what I’ve learned since moving to Qatar.

Qatar’s HealthCare System

Qatar’s health system is mainly dominated by the public sector, which is good because it’s done right. The Public health system is called Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). They have specialized centers, tertiary units, hospitals, and primary healthcare clinics (PHCC) throughout Qatar to serve the population. It offers mostly free healthcare to everyone who’s a national or a resident of Qatar. Qatar’s population has grown rapidly, and the public system has struggled to meet their needs.  That’s why the government is encouraging the expansion of the private sector.

Working in the private sector can be tough because there might be limitations to physician privileges depending on the Ministry of Health pathways for credentialing and licensing. For example, general pediatrics does not perform cryotherapy.  It’s reserved for dermatology, but I can perform it if I prove I did many of them in the USA – so it’s a lot of work to dig into it. For OBs that do IVF, you’ll go through a lot of paperwork to obtain this privilege.  Also, some high-level medications, like chemotherapy, are only available at Hamad, though you can obtain them through special requests. Additionally, some services are only available at Hamad such as cancer treatment centers or stroke centers, Addiction and rehabilitation centers, communicable and infectious disease centers, etc.

Medical Licensure/Registration

The employer handled my medical licensure and registration, however, you will still need to organize and collect the proper documentation, which was daunting as many of the documents need to be authenticated, which can take a very long time.

The medical school diploma, medical board certifications, state license, work experience letter, and procedure logs must be submitted to a primary verification service called DataFlo. This service verifies all the documentation before issuing the work visa. This process takes 2-3 months.

I also needed to provide:

• a verified procedures log for the past 3 years
• verified proof of work experience for the past 5 years
• a Background check, authenticated by the State Department; this took 12 weeks.

Finding a Job

I found my job by asking through a post in the Hippocratic Adventure Facebook Group, one member replied to me, he mentioned this opportunity since he signed with this employer only recently, and he passed my resume to the hiring team. The rest is history!

I recommend looking through the:

1. Hippocratic Adventures Job Board for current openings.

2. Hippocratic Adventure Facebook Group,

3. LinkedIn, and the hospitals’ websites directly.

Work Culture

Qatar is diverse – you get to work with people from many different countries, which is exciting. This can also be challenging, and being culturally sensitive is important. For example, you don’t want to use foul language in public, when Azan (the call for prayer is on), no other music should be on, and all stores and restaurants close for Friday prayer. This enables everyone to go to prayer instead of having to work.

The country’s official language is Arabic, though the population is fluent in English. Patient care is provided in English (unless patients or families request Arabic) and all peer-to-peer discussions are in English. Outside of work, it’s preferred to speak the local language, but English is sufficient. Many non-Arabic speakers live here without issues. Everyone speaks English, and everyone gets an orientation and training to ensure people understand the ecosystem of the organization etc. Human Resources is still very behind and is not well established for physicians.

There are big differences in the health systems and work culture compared to the US. For example, the Ministry of Health limits some pediatric medications, otherwise widely used in other parts of the world for the same age group. Also, the health system is more influenced by the European Councils and European Standards. For example, I was surprised that  PALS certification from the AHA is not accepted here, and we had to take the APLS certification (European) instead. I’ve found that if you stay focused on the standards of patient care, follow the guidelines as per the international medical communities and the Ministry of Health, you’ll be fine.

Salary

The salary for a pediatrician here is about the same as I would have in the US. I was in the higher pay bracket for pediatricians in the US, so my pay did not change much. The salary depends on the employer and can range from 70,000 QAR to 150,000 QAR per month (at time of writing, exchange rate of 1 USD = 3.65 QAR).

The pay is good, but Qatar’s living cost is very high. A full-time position in the Gulf Cooperation Council region means working 45 hours weekly. Here in the Gulf region, there are titles for physicians, they have tiers for countries (based on citizenships and education/Boards). For example: USA, UK, and Canadian graduates will be hired as consultants, while a graduate from a tier 2 or 3 country will be hired as a senior specialist or specialist. This reflects on the salary, benefits, and scope of practice! Tier 3 countries’ graduates must sit an exam before applying for the license.

In Qatar, there is NO income tax 😊 but Americans must pay income tax to the USA ☹, Canadians and UK citizens do not pay taxes to their respective countries when working abroad.

Immigration

After finding a job, I was issued a work visa; and my family received a visa on arrival. HR helped me to obtain the Qatari ID (this took 3 weeks) and then a medical examination, CXR, and bloodwork to complete the immigration process.

Nuggets of Wisdom

After obtaining the Qatari ID, we could apply for a local bank account. After 2 salary paystubs, I could activate the benefits for my dependents like health insurance, and apply for Qatar IDs for my children to enroll them in school and register them in the Ministry of Education, (the schools gave 3 months grace period).

Before moving to Qatar I made sure to have all my kid’s birth certificates and school transcripts authenticated by the state then by the Department of State in Washington since this was needed in changing schools.

You can only rent a place with a Qatar ID, a bank account, and a checkbook (should write postdated checks for the lease period). It’s like a domino effect, you’ve got to obtain documentation in a particular order to then officially be in the system.

Dr. Nataly Ghanem completed her residency in 2015 from UC Davis, California. She practiced pediatrics in a large medical group in northern California until September 2022 when she moved to Qatar. She now lives and practices outpatient and inpatient pediatrics in Qatar. 

Jobs for Doctors in the Middle East