Getting Bahrain Medical License as Doctor

hello guys. i am from Pakistan recently shifted to bahrain. as evident from the subject i wanna share my experience of geting medical license to practice as doctor in bahrain.
i am sharing it bcoz i didnt find anything when i was looking .
1. u need to have a job offer to apply for license
2. experience of 5 years is must. ( though i got exemption thanks to the fact that my wife who is also a doc is Bahraini. but u have to ask for it.we met with the CEO of nhra for this)
3. after submission of application form to nhra they will inform u that u can sit in exam i.e. BMLE. which  happens arround december n march usually. if u hold a postgraduation degree u can be exempted too
4. sit in exam pass it recieve passing letter.
5. ur employer then submit it to nhra for license. some other forms  r required too avilable on nhra website
6. nhra will issue a letter and employer will apply to lmra for ur visa
7. after ur medical n cpr is done these wil be again submitted to nhra.
8. nhra will issue a letter demanding payment.
9. after payment license card is issued.
10. JOIN..
so its a long procedure.. u may have to wait quite a bit.

Better go to UK or Canada for higher studies than trying fr licence here...things here takes too much time.

Thank you very much for sharing this valuable information  :top: , this might help a lot of people.

am doctor and i got offer letter from one company, my question is , I have to be physically in bahrain to obtain the licence, or it can be done while am outside bahrain.

Well u have to appear in BMLE unless exempted..  And BMLE  is held only in Bahrain.. Exemption is usually for specialists and consultants

Am consultant and I think there is exemption
Regarding the contract 1/ is it open or renewal every two years.
2/ they write not allowed to work in Bahrain after resignation or termination , is it routine for Bahrain.

Thanks javad

Well then most of the process can be done while u r away. But for license nhra needs cpr and Medical from Bahrain. Contract here is usually for 2 years and renewed after 2 years.  Regarding job change ppl do this and they can't stop u.  But i think u must atleast complete 2 year with employer before giving notice of leaving them and joining another

Sry I meant atleast  1 year not 2 before job change

Thank u Ahmad for valuable information.but I have question regarding resignation during probation period, is there is any penalty after that.
They write in the offer letter, contract is open and this suspicious?
Thanks for reply

Well sorry I don't know much about legal matters.  But u can visit LMRA.BH . There u can find rules regarding expat employees.

many thanks to you my dear, u have been great

dear Dr.ammad,

can you please elaborate on the certificate attestation to be done.is it only the MBBS and postgraduation certificates or the home medical registration also?.

Well I got mbbs,  home registration and Medical transcript attested.  But they didn't really ask for them till now.  Whole process done on unattested copies of these docs.  But its better to get them attested

My pleasure sir

thank you Dr.javed

Can i change employer after 6months?

Hello doctor....How many days to wait for the demand of payment from nhra?
This is what I am waiting today.. i just recieve my cpr. Now the HR is telling me they are waiting for the notice of payment.
Its quite a long wait.

It can take 1 to 3 weeks usually.
Have they submitted ur CPR n medical fitness to nhra?

You can change employer with his consent anytime.  But if u r changing without his consent u must have completed 1 year with him and give him 3 months notice before through registered post letter

Hello, yes theyve submitted my medical report and cpr copy to nhra. And theyre waiting for the notice of payment before i could start. Thank you for answering my quiry. The hr in our hospital cant tell me when the notice of payment be given.. thanx again.

Oh i see. That is a very helpful information for a newbie like me here in bahrain.. thanx a million.

I wonder if they will give consent of i will not complete 1 yr. If no consent given from my employer,  i cannot transfer to another hospital?

Well according to LMRA rules u can not.
Actually ur HR is right.  Nhra process is unpredictable but usually they issue letter of payment in few weeks. The original license card will come after few months but u can start working after payment is done.
In which hospital u got job?

Hello,
Sorry if the question is made before. I'm a general doctor, do i need do get the license in bahrain or in my home country? I have to give some exams??

Yes u need to get Bahrain license if u need to work here.  Exam is held 3 times a year.  Only written paper with 150 mcq.  Pictures included.  But u need 5 years experience and job offer letter in order to apply for exam

I've been offer a job in a clinic in bahrain as general doctor, i have only 2 years of experience. But the Clinic said that i can get the license without an exam, so i begin to doubt about them

Yes you can be exempted as long as you glhave a long years of experience. You can read from the NHRA website.

Hello doc.. in middle east hospital in seggaya.

Im thinking to get a part time job while waiti g since it is taking long time to wait for me to start .

Exemption is considered on case to case basis by nhra.  Usually it is for docs with specialist degree.

Hi guys, is it difficult to pass bmle?? Where can i find the fond of questions to study??

Not much difficult.  One Mcq paper of 150 questions.

Hmm, for a non-bahrain it seems difficult to me. I hope I be exempted

I studied first aid and master the boards for usmle step 2 ck
Question banks for saudi licensing exam may help u also..

Hello,
Sorry to disturb again.
My employee said that since i have a medical license in my home country, i can be extemped by bmle.
I read the website of nhra but i didn't found such information.
Could you help me please?

i do not know about such option.
i also had license from my home country.
but may be your employer knows a way arround this.
anyway if u can get license without exam its good for u
but before starting practice make sure ur license is approved otherwise u can get into trouble

I need to be in bahrain to get the license, ora most of the process is done without neccessity to be there

well it can proceed without ur presence except if they ask u to sit in exam

Thank you very much.
I don't know why they are rushing things. They want that i arrive with a visit visa, and then apply for medical license in nhra. I'm in a difficult position, i don't want to lose he offer, but still it's to risky to go without being sure about the license

actually license is a two step precodure.
1st NHRA will assess ur documents and issue a letter if they are willing to issue license
then ur visa will be applied on bases of that letter
after ur cpr and medical is done it will be submitted again to nhra for final approval.
atleast tellur employer to get stage 1 done.
u can take leave and come on visit visa on their expense.
but dont quit ur first job until u have ur residency visa