The Pakistan Medical Commission Council meeting was held today, at PMC Office. The council considered several agenda items of the PMC related to different issues. The Council members unanimously decided that the MDCAT exam shall be held on the 13th or 20th of November 2022. The exam will be conducted by PMC through the provincial public university in all the provinces, ICT on one day at the same time.

The following universities were decided to hold the MDCAT examination for Pakistani students i.e Bolan University of Medical & Health Sciences (Baluchistan)University of Health Sciences Lahore (Punjab), Khyber Medical University Peshawar (KPK), Dow University of Health sciences Karachi (Sindh), Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University Islamabad (ICT,AJK,Gilgit Baltistan).

It was decided that the pass percentage of MBBS will be 55% and BDS will be 45%. The Council relaxed the pass percentage to help students to get adjusted in Pakistani Medical dental colleges as last year almost 20000 students went abroad to get admissions in foreign medical dental colleges which resulted in a huge financial loss to Pakistan.

It was decided that the NUMS-affiliated colleges MDCAT Exam will be conducted by PMC through NUMS separately and only those students can appear in these colleges who intend to get admission in only these colleges. It was decided as PMA long courses should not be disturbed. The examination shall be paper-based manual exam and the answer sheets will be uploaded to the exam holding universities and PMC website on the same day. It was also decided to extend 10 days for registration for the MDCAT exam with PMC the portal has been opened for the same.

The Council decided to conduct the MDCAT exam for foreign students in Saudi Arabia and UAE due to the maximum number of students in these countries. Other countries had a very low number of students and time differences due to which it was not possible to make centers there. Center details of these countries will be uploaded on the PMC website. Those foreign students residing in any other country who want to appear in the MDCAT exam can appear in Pakistan or in these two countries which are feasible for them.

The Council deliberated on the NLE examination and unanimously decided to hold the NLE step 1 exam in the last week of October 2022 and the NLE step 2 exam in the last week of November for foreign graduates. The Council also decided that the NLE examination for local Students shall be conducted through their degree awarding Universities under the umbrella of PMC. It was unanimously decided to reduce the pass percentage of NLE 1 & NLE 2 from 70% to 50% but it will not be used as retrospective.

The Council decided that the basic postgraduate degrees of the doctors shall be registered with the PMC. However foreign medical dental postgraduate qualifications shall be scrutinized and after due process shall be registered with PMC.

President Prof.Dr.Noushad A. shaikh apprised the council regarding the WFME accreditation progress. He was pleased to apprise us that PMC has been accepted as eligible for WFME accreditation. He added that a task force committee has been constituted to look after the WFME further development of accreditation. The Council was apprised that a time frame has been made by the task force and within a few months, all the necessary actions shall be taken in this regard to secure the future of our students and doctors. The Council decided that the inspections of medical dental colleges shall be carried out by the PMC.

The Council unanimously decided to renew the doctors registration certificates from 2 years to 5 years and those doctors who are 60 years and above shall renew their registration certificate will have to pay 50 % of the total fee.

The Council has also decided to remove /finish the pathways and categories of all the international medical and dental colleges. A list of registered /approved medical and dental colleges shall be uploaded on PMC WEBSITE.

It was decided that regional offices in Karachi, Muzaffarabad, and Gilgit shall also be established at the earliest to facilitate the general public and doctors.

The meeting was attended by the following members presided by the President PMC Dr. Noushad Ahmad Shaikh, Dr. Khurshid Ahmad Nasim (V.P), Lt.General Nigar Johar, Dr. Muhammad Fakhr-e-Alam, Mr. Jawad Amin Khan, Barrister Ch. Sultan Mansoor, M. Shabbir Kasbati, Professor Dr. Naqibullah Achakzai, Professor Dr. Muhammad Zubair Khan.

Ref:

Pakistan Medical Commission @FB