What a DA means on a doctor's profile
The DA is the two-year postgraduate diploma in anaesthesiology, held by anaesthetists who give anaesthesia in operating theatres and run pain clinics.
The DA is the two-year postgraduate diploma in anaesthesiology. Its holders give general and regional anaesthesia, manage patients through surgery and in intensive care, and increasingly run pain clinics; a DA is a full anaesthetist's qualification for hospital work, and anaesthetists on this site record it in numbers second only to the DGO and DCH. Because anaesthesia is a hospital speciality with little outpatient practice, DA holders are less visible to patients than their numbers suggest — you meet them on the day of surgery.
A postgraduate diploma is two years of training after the MBBS, entered through NEET-PG and awarded by a university under the same regulations as the degrees; the National Medical Commission's Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023 set two years as its length against three for a broad-speciality degree. A diploma holder is a trained specialist in the branch, and may go on to complete the MD in Anaesthesiology or a DNB with the diploma counted towards it. Many profiles here record both — the diploma first, the degree later.
How to check whether a doctor holds a DA
- Read the register entryA doctor's record on the Indian Medical Register names the qualification the state medical council recorded at registration, and further qualifications where the doctor has had them added. If the doctor says they hold a DA and the register shows only the primary degree, the DA has not been registered — which is common and not by itself a warning, but it does mean the register cannot confirm it.
- Check the college was recognised for the courseThe NMC's College and Course Search lists which institutions are recognised for which courses. a DA from a college not recognised for it on the year in question is a qualification the NMC does not recognise, whatever the certificate says.
- Ask the awarding body when it mattersUniversities verify degrees on request, usually for a fee; a hospital credentialing a doctor does this, and a patient can ask whether it has been done. On this site a qualification is marked verified only when it has been checked against the awarding body and the date is shown; otherwise it is marked as supplied.
355 doctors record a DA
None of them has the qualification checked against the awarding body yet. All are recorded as supplied. Counts are read from the live database and refresh hourly.
Specialities they practise
- Anaesthesiologists · 344
- General surgeons · 3
- Paediatricians · 2
- Dietitians · 1
- Emergency physicians · 1
- Gynaecologists · 1
Where they practise
Questions people ask
- Is a DA a recognised qualification in India?
- Yes, when awarded by an institution recognised for it. The National Medical Commission maintains the list of recognised qualifications and of the institutions permitted to award each; a DA from a college that was not recognised for the course in that year is not a recognised qualification, and a registering body can refuse to enter it on the register.
- Is DA enough to practise as a specialist?
- Yes. A postgraduate diploma is a recognised specialist qualification in its branch, and diploma holders practise as specialists across India. It is shorter than the three-year degree in the same branch and does not by itself qualify the holder for super-speciality training, which is entered from an MD, MS or DNB.
Every profile lists its qualifications as supplied and says which of them have been checked against the awarding body and when. Where none has, the profile says so.
General information about medical qualifications in India, checked against the sources listed on 25 Sep 2026. Not advice about your situation. Errors can be reported through the corrections process.