Does Dubai Still need Overseas doctors? The answer appear to be unambiguous.

“We are not accepting hard copy of the CV” was the first sentence I was greeted by many hospitals in Dubai. When I gave Dubai Health Authority exams, I was under the impression that the most difficult thing was to pass DHA exam. After passing DHA exam and getting registered in Dubai medical registry I started applying online for specialist Job in Dubai Hospital. To my amazement not a single hospital responded to my emails. This was the first indication I got that all is not well in Dubai for oversees doctors but still I decided to go to Dubai and see for myself the situation there.

On day1 of my stay there first I visited Dubai Health Care city (DHCC). The first hospital i visited was Called Suleiman Habib hospital. It’s a kind of Big Hospital and at the counter a humble lady told me “We are not accepting hard copy of the CV” you please drop it to such and such email ID. And then I visited every hospital located in DHCC and everywhere I heard same sentence that they are not accepting any hard copy of the CV and then I realised that the situation has drastically changed. They have got enough of doctors there. Despite this realisation on 2^nd and 3^rd day I visited many other hospital including Zahra hospital , Al jalil hospital , Al rashid hospital etc but everywhere the situation is same. The only hospital which appeared interested was Zulekha Hospital where the HR people took My CV asked me some subject related questions and promised that they will contact me soon. But till now I understood the situation and given up on idea of going to Dubai since the salary they would have offered me would be less than what I am earning in India (Ive a government job plus my own practice plus some businesses including this publication business).

And next 2 days i fully dedicated to roam around forgetting that I am a doctor. Just visited the places and enjoyed the city of dreams called Dubai. Ill summarise the things amazed me a lot in Dubai.

Cleanliness: Dubai is a clean city and you won’t find a city cleaner than Dubai.

Absence of Police: During my stay of 1 week I have never seen a policeman or a police station.

Absence of Beggars: Ive not seen any beggar in Dubai.

Law abiding citizens: I have never seen someone fighting with someone else, Not seen anyone breaking the traffic rules, not seen any illegal activities going on (they must be going on in some dark alleys but in public places everything appears to be disciplined).

Happy People : I have not seen a single person who appeared anxious, worried or in panic (there must be people like that but they are not visible. Like anywhere else in the world, you will find some people who appear troubled or worried, here ive not seen such people in 1 week).

Beautiful People: Daily I saw people young men and women as if they are carved in detail. Everywhere you will see handsome men and beautiful women and smart kids.

Tesla stopping for you: During my stay ive seen so many luxury car drivers stopping their cars so that I can cross the road. These included Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, BMW, Volvo, Audi, Porsche, Lexus, Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Land Rover.

Air conditioned local bus stations.

Wealth: Dubai is Rich and it doesn’t conceal this fact from you. Everywhere you will see rich people, luxury cars, branded products.

Doing everything on Large Scale: You will see tallest building in the word. Largest garden in the word. Biggest park in the world etc etc.

Dubai is accommodating: You will see metro station names such as Shobha Realty (Shobha is an Indian name) and Danube (A Pakistani businessman).

Dubai breaks the stereotypes. We are used to see Arab stereotypes mostly in Hollywood movies. In you will see the Arabs who are educated, ultra-rich and polite. Being an ultra-rich polite person is a rarity but you will find this kind of people everywhere in Dubai.

Dubai is so disciplined, so ultra-rich , so good that sometimes it appears unreal. Many people accuse Dubai of being fake. Their argument is how so many people can be so good, disciplined and polite. But for me ive not found evidence of it being fake so I’ll take Dubai on its face value. Too good, too rich, too polite, too disciplined.

Summary For doctors:

From my personal experience I can definitely say that Dubai desperately wanting doctors to join its hospitals is a thing of past and current situation is such that the Dubai Hospitals already have a good working force and they no longer need doctors. And from my personal experience I feel they are a lot of doctors who are approaching them on daily basis. No response to email and signs of “We are not accepting any hard copies of CV” displayed at reception counters of hospitals is a witness to this. Moreover Dubai is expensive so if you are settled in India with Job and private practice then going to Dubai will not be a good choice for you.

On the other hand, if you have just passed MD and if you are young then you can try to get a job there. You will have to struggle for 1-2 years and ultimately you will settle and get a good Job.

To summarise my visit to Dubai ill say Dubai is no longer a great place for work for doctors because they no longer need doctors. In that sense Dubai Disappointed me. But it restored my faith in humanity. Never you will see such rich , such polite and disciplined people anywhere else in the world.