A patient or colleague has complained about your manner, a remark or how you treated them
You have received a written notice or warning about conduct rather than clinical care
A post, message or record access by you is being looked at by your facility
Written for UAE licensing·Updated 2 November 2026
What you will learn
Find the federal law that sets duties for your profession group and the conduct rules your licensing authority applies.
Use the twelve DHA conduct standards as a practical checklist in any profession.
Answer every licensing, renewal and good standing question truthfully, and work only where your licence and privileges extend.
Keep your CPD record honest and know how renewal and return-to-practice rules differ between MOHAP, the DHA, the DOH and DHCR.
Introduce yourself, wear identification, protect privacy, follow opposite-gender rules and use interpreters at every encounter.
Challenge disrespect and discrimination when you see it, and handle safety concerns, whether you raise them or receive them, professionally.
Hand over clearly, delegate within limits and, when something goes wrong, tell the patient, report it and leave the record as it is.
Follow the rules on posting, promotion, messaging, clinical systems and remote care that apply where you work.
Declare competing interests, and step back when illness, tiredness or behaviour outside work puts patients at risk.
Describe what happens when conduct is questioned and draw up a professionalism plan supported by a written reflection.
Who this course is for
All licensed healthcare professionals in the UAE, including nurses, midwives, physicians, dentists, pharmacists, allied professionals and TCIM practitioners, and those whose conduct has been questioned.
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a licensing authority inquiry.
Routine CPD
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
About this course
Most concerns about professionalism have little to do with clinical skill. They are about how someone introduced themselves, spoke to a colleague, answered a question on a renewal form, handed over a patient, posted online or dealt with a gift. This course looks at the behaviours that build or wear away trust across the UAE health workforce, using the twelve standards in Dubai's 2025 ethics and conduct code, the conduct rules of MOHAP, the DOH, the SHA and Dubai Healthcare City, and the federal laws that set duties for each profession group.
It is written for nurses, midwives, physicians, dentists, pharmacists and allied professionals at any grade and in any emirate. If feedback, a complaint, a licensing authority inquiry or an employer review has questioned your conduct, it helps you identify which standard is in play and build a written reflection and a personal professionalism plan that show what you have learned and how you now work.
Seven short sections cover honesty in licensing and keeping your standing, how you present yourself to patients, fairness and civility, accountability for tasks and mistakes, online and digital conduct, money, health and life outside work, and what happens when professionalism is questioned. Each closes with a knowledge check, and a 20-question scenario assessment completes the course.
How this course helps after a concern
Conduct concerns form a large part of what licensing authorities and facility managers deal with: a curt manner, a remark about a colleague's nationality, a renewal declaration that was not quite accurate, a message sent from a personal phone or a gift that should have been declined. When one of these reaches your line manager, a facility review or the DHA, DOH or MOHAP, this course helps you see how the behaviour was experienced by the patient or colleague, name the standard it fell below and explain what you now do instead.
The certificate records the course title, 2 hours (estimated) and the completion date, which you can attach to a reply to a written notice or include in a development plan agreed with your employer. The reflective account focuses on the gap between what you intended and what the other person experienced, which is often exactly what a reviewer wants to see you understand. As routine CPD it suits every profession, and your licensing authority decides how any learning counts towards your CPD or a requirement it has set.
What you will have at the end
A certificate of completion showing the course title, 2 hours (estimated) and the date you finished
A structured way of raising a safety concern with a senior colleague across cultures
A personal check of your licence details, renewal dates, CPD record and good standing position
A digital conduct review covering profiles, messaging groups, record access and telehealth
A personal professionalism plan and a reflective account on one gap between intent and impact
A scenario from UAE practice
A screenshot from a Sharjah clinic chat group
Consider a physiotherapist in a private clinic in Sharjah who finds one patient demanding and repetitive. After a long session, the physiotherapist shares a screenshot of the patient's appointment history in the clinic staff's messaging group, with a joke about the patient's accent. Several colleagues reply with laughing emojis, and nobody suggests deleting it.
Weeks later, a former employee forwards the screenshot to the patient, who complains to the clinic and the licensing authority about disrespect and a breach of privacy. The physiotherapist's clinical care is not in question, yet the matter now involves confidentiality, non-discrimination and digital conduct, and the clinic's manager has to decide what to tell the authority about the wider team's part.
Section 3 covers respect and non-discrimination towards patients and the subtle forms disrespect takes, and Section 5 sets out the rules on messaging, data and access to systems. Section 7 explains how conduct concerns are handled and what insight looks like. A reflection could describe the apology, the changed group rules and how colleagues were briefed.
Illustrative example, not a real case.
Is this course right for you?
A patient or colleague has complained about your manner, a remark or how you treated them
You have received a written notice or warning about conduct rather than clinical care
A post, message or record access by you is being looked at by your facility
A renewal, declaration or licence activation issue has been raised with you
You work in a multinational team and want practical tools for respect and speaking up
You want a two-hour professionalism course for renewal that suits any profession
Course details
Learning time
2 hours (estimated study time, including section knowledge checks, reflection and the final assessment)
Standards covered
Federal Law No. 5 of 2019; Federal Law No. 6 of 2023 and Cabinet Resolution No. 176 of 2025; Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2024; Federal Decree-Law No. 4 of 2016; Dubai Executive Council Resolution No. 49 of 2024; DHA Standards for Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (2025); MOHAP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (2017); Sharjah Executive Council Resolution No. 29 of 2025; Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements (PQR), 3rd version
Format
Online and self-paced on any device, with UAE case studies, a knowledge check after each section and reflection prompts; 12 months' access
Assessment
20 scenario-based questions, 80% to pass (16 of 20)
Outcome
Fitness To Practice certificate of completion showing the course title, CPD hours and date, plus a structured reflective account for your portfolio
1Shared professional standards in UAE healthcare2 lessons
Why professionalism is a duty for every licensed health worker
Authority codes that describe expected professional behaviour
2Honest licensing and remaining in good standing2 lessons
Truthful applications from first submission to starting work
Renewals, CPD, standing certificates and time out of practice
3Respectful behaviour in diverse workplaces3 lessons
First impressions, introductions and identification with patients
Fair, non-discriminatory treatment of patients and staff
Courtesy, seniority and raising concerns in mixed teams
4Taking responsibility in routine work2 lessons
Staying within scope, delegating safely and being dependable
Admitting errors, reporting them and assisting reviews
5Professional behaviour in digital spaces2 lessons
Managing your professional identity on social media
Electronic records, work messaging apps and virtual consultations
6Staying honest under commercial and personal pressure2 lessons
Sales targets, competing interests and accepting gifts
Fatigue, personal wellbeing and behaviour off duty
7Conduct concerns, learning and professional growth2 lessons
How regulators deal with concerns about conduct
Learning from a conduct concern and building lasting professionalism
8Recap of key messages1 lesson
Recap of key messages
9Cited sources and further reading1 lesson
Cited sources and further reading
10Reflection on professional conduct1 lesson
Drafting your personal reflection
Section by section
Shared professional standards in UAE healthcareExplains why professionalism is one shared standard for every licensed profession a patient meets in a visit, what it means in UAE practice, and which codes and standards bind you in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, the federal system and Dubai Healthcare City.
Honest licensing and remaining in good standingTreats every licence application and e-service declaration as a professional statement, explains practising only where your licence is activated, and covers renewal, inactivity, CPD by authority, what good standing records show and planning honestly for gaps in practice.
Respectful behaviour in diverse workplacesCovers introductions, identification, dress, privacy and gender preferences at the point of care, non-discrimination towards patients and colleagues including its subtle forms, and a structured way to speak up across very different attitudes to hierarchy.
Taking responsibility in routine workLooks at working within scope, delegating safely, following up and handing over reliably, then owning mistakes through candour, reporting in a just culture, protecting the integrity of the record and cooperating with any review.
Professional behaviour in digital spacesSets out the core online conduct rules for every profession, promotion permits, and the duties that come with electronic records, health information exchanges, messaging tools, personal devices and video consultations, each of which records who did what and when.
Staying honest under commercial and personal pressureCovers targets, packages, product sales, commissions and gifts and how pressure usually arrives, then your own health, fatigue, second jobs and conduct outside work as part of being fit to practise and keeping public trust.
Conduct concerns, learning and professional growthExplains where conduct concerns sit in the liability and disciplinary tracks, how to respond professionally, what insight looks like, the remedial measures authorities use and the place of courses, and how to build a personal professionalism plan.
Recap of key messagesDraws together what to take away, following professionalism from the licence application to the bedside, the team, the screen, commercial pressure and the response when a concern is raised.
Cited sources and further readingLists the federal laws and the MOHAP, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai Healthcare City sources behind the course, advising you to open the publisher's page for the latest version before relying on any detail.
Reflection on professional conductAsks you to pick one moment where your intention and another person's experience did not match, and turn it into a short, evidence-based account you can keep and show a committee or licensing authority.
Assessment and certificate
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
Pass mark 80%: 16 correct out of 20
Knowledge checks in each section as you go
Tests whether you can apply the standards, not recall a page
Not passed yet? Review the sections and retake it
Certificate of completion
A certificate of completion for your learning portfolio.
Your name, the course title and the estimated learning time (record the time you actually spend)
Completion date and a unique certificate ID that can be verified
Ready to download as a PDF as soon as you complete the course
Fitness To Practice
Certificate of Completion
This certifies that
Your Name
has successfully completed
Professionalism in Practice for UAE Health Professionals
Fitness To PracticeCompleted12 Oct 2026
2hours (estimated)
Certificate IDFTS-7Q4K-2M9X
Digitally signed & stamped on issue
Continuing professional development record — United Arab Emirates
Your reflective account
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your CPD portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Questions about this course
Who is this course for?
Every licensed healthcare professional in the UAE, whatever the profession or grade. Physicians who want a deeper, profession-specific course can take Professional Standards for Physicians in the UAE instead of, or as well as, this one.
Does it cover honesty in licensing and renewal applications?
Yes. Section 2 covers honesty from the first application to the first shift, and how renewal, CPD, good standing certificates and gaps in practice work across MOHAP, the DHA, the DOH and DHCR. Inaccurate declarations are treated as integrity concerns in their own right.
My manager has raised concerns about how I communicate with colleagues. Will this help?
Section 3 deals with civility, hierarchy and speaking up in teams drawn from many countries, and Section 7 shows how to turn feedback into a written reflection and a plan for how you will work from now on. The course can help you show that you have taken the concern seriously and done something about it.
Does it include social media and telehealth?
Yes. Section 5 covers your professional presence online and the safe use of clinical systems, messaging and telehealth, under DHA, DOH and federal rules.
Will it count towards my CPD?
Your licensing authority decides how any learning counts towards your CPD or a requirement it has set. Your certificate shows the course title, 2 hours (estimated) and the date of completion.
How is it assessed?
Each of the seven main sections has its own knowledge check. The end-of-course assessment presents 20 everyday scenarios and asks for 16 correct answers (80%) to pass. Your certificate and a structured reflective account follow.
How this course was built
Official sources only
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: UAE federal health laws, the licensing authorities' codes, standards and policies, and official government guidance. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Original, edition by edition
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
Reviewed when rules change
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
The four principles, a seven-step decision method, families and faith, end-of-life limits, organ donation, AI and dual loyalties, for every UAE profession.
Romantic and sexual boundaries, third-person presence, gifts and money, dual relationships, social media and messaging, culture, colleagues and early warning signs.
Complaint routes in each emirate, the committee process, deadlines, the first 72 hours, building a chronology and writing an honest, structured response.
Completed12 Oct 2026