The Pakistan Association of Medical and Dental Institutions(PAMI)hasissued awhite paper against the performance of the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC).
It has been argued that the condition of the National Licensing Examination (NLE) should be withdrawn and the demands should be heard by forming a high-level committee otherwise PAMI will be forced to take to the street.
Addressing a press conference at a private hotel here on Tuesday, the PAMI office-bearers said the PMC was bent on destroying the private medical and dental institutions. They said a lawyer had been given the power to play with the future of the students and destroy medical colleges by making him the vice president of the PMC. And he was working for the interests of foreign medical colleges instead of Pakistan, they alleged.
PAMI President Prof Dr Chaudhry Abdul Rehman said his association was the only body having representation of 173 medical and dental colleges.He said systematic destruction of medical institutions was taking place.
`Incompetent people have been imposed in the PMC to play with the future of medical institutions of the country. The newly `imposed` vice president of the PMC, Ali Raza, has been supporting his relatives,` the PAMI president alleged. He highlighted the concerns by propagating the most crucial questions: What is the merit of Mr Ali Raza? How did he become the vice president of the PMC? And how the PMC destroyed medical colleges in Sindh in the name of Admission Regulation 2020 by opening the admissions of public and private medical colleges simultaneously.
He asserted that this is an uncommon practice as it did not happen earlier that the admissions started together. First there are admissions of government and then private colleges.
He said there was never a double requirement in MDCAT. A new condition was imposed in MDCAT against the ground realities, Mr Abdul Rehman said.
`Twelve medical and dental colleges in Sindh failed to have admissions and now all the colleges are onthe verge of destruction,` he lamented.
He said Pakistan had one doctor for every 140,000 patients. According to international standards, there should be one doctor for every 70,000 people and medical colleges were being massacred in the name of MDCAT.
He alleged that Mr Ali Raza had been saying from day one that he would abolish private medical colleges. `But, in reality, he wants to run foreign colleges by destroying Pakistani colleges,` Prof Rehman said.
`The merit of MDCAT has been increased from 26% to 65% overnight,` he alleged.
He asserted that the NLE could be imposed on students who graduated after 2000. `But how can NLE be imposed on students who have passed in 2016? `Our concerns should be heard by forming a high-level committee comprising Dr Faisal Sultan, Nowsherwan Burki and Fawad Chaudhry,` he demanded.
Prof Dr Mohammad Razi, President of PAMI`s Sindh chapter, endorsed the concerns of association`s central president.
