ISLAMABAD – In a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health, the President of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) announced a three-year ban on the establishment of new medical and dental colleges across the country. He also confirmed that the MDCAT exam will be held nationwide on October 5.
The meeting, chaired by Senator Aamir Waleeduddin, included a discussion on the PMDC Amendment Bill. Senator Humayun Mohmand proposed that parliamentarians should be part of the PMDC board, just like other boards.
However, the PMDC President responded that parliamentarians cannot be part of the PMDC board and historically have not been included. The committee chairman disagreed, stating that members of Parliament have served on the board multiple times in the past.
Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said that, given the current political climate, including parliamentarians in the board is not appropriate. He added that even he is not a member of the PMDC board and that past mistakes should be corrected rather than repeated. He suggested changing the precedent if it previously existed.
The committee chairman noted that earlier, the board included one member each from the National Assembly and the Senate.
Mustafa Kamal further stated that Pakistan’s doctors and medical field still hold a strong reputation internationally. He stressed that the board has received national accreditation for 10 years and should remain free from political influence and authority.
He also emphasized that it’s not feasible to include members from every political party on the PMDC board. There is already immense pressure and recommendations regarding medical colleges, making the task very challenging. He humorously remarked that political interference has been overwhelming, and even he, as a committee member, is not part of the board.
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Senator Irfan Siddiqui disagreed, saying that including political figures does not necessarily disrupt an institution’s structure. He added that if PMDC had genuine political input, current issues like admissions, medical college operations, and exam problems might not exist.
He proposed that the bill be deferred until the next committee meeting to make it more comprehensive and meaningful, suggesting stakeholders be consulted to address PMDC’s concerns.
Deputy Registrar Dr Imdad Khushk briefed the committee that the PMDC has a total of 15 members, and currently, neither Senators nor MNAs are part of it.
Regarding the MDCAT exam, he explained that the test originally comprised 200 questions over three and a half hours. After concerns from parents, the number of questions was reduced to 180, and the duration shortened to three hours. He noted that last year, there were issues with out-of-syllabus questions, but this year, a pool of 10,000 MCQs has been created.
He confirmed that the MDCAT will be held nationwide on October 5.
PMDC President Dr. Rizwan Taj told the committee that due to a surge in the number of medical colleges and a shortage of qualified faculty, the decision was made to suspend the opening of new colleges for the next three years.
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