Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has clarified that no provincial quota of public and private-sector medical and dental colleges was being enhanced, stressing that any such move required its approval.
The council was responding to recent reports circulating in media that the provincial quota of public and private-sector medical and dental colleges was being increased by 20pc.
The PMDC categorically announced that the provincial quota could not be increased without its approval, and that a proper application had to be submitted through the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS).
According to media reports, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has decided to increase the number of seats in the public and private medical and dental colleges by 20pc, and caretaker KP Chief Minister retired Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah has said the matter had been taken up with the PMDC.
However, the council on Monday issued a statement claiming that no seat enhancement was possible in the medical and dental colleges without its approval.
“In the larger interest of the organisation it is clarified that the PMDC has received no application from the KP government nor the PMDC has inked an approval for any such seat enhancement. Provincial/regional authorities can enhance their seats in medical and dental colleges with due approval of the PMDC which is the apex regulatory body of the country,” it stated.
It is pertinent to mention here that the PMDC has a set criteria, rules, regulations and standards in line with the global commitments for its recognition with the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME).
“Recognition of MBBS/BDS programmes and enhancement of seats is done under a due procedure which includes formal requests by provincial governments or individual colleges through the Ministry of Health. The PMDC is a national regulatory body and according to law, no province can work or announce any enhancement independently.
The PMDC firmly disseminates that seat enhancement in public or private colleges is subject to completion of the due process,” the statement said.
