February 22, 2002	Friday	Zilhaj 9, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 21: Of the 50 medical and dental colleges in the country, seven in the public sector and 22 in the private sector are provisionally recognized by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) or their status are under scrutiny.

According to PMDC Secretary Dr M. Sohail K. Hashmi the colleges that were provisionally recognized had been told by the council that they should not admit students for the next term nor should they conduct promotional examination for their enrolled students.

He said those colleges had been asked to rectify their deficiencies within six months, during which their recognition would remain suspended.

PROVISIONALLY RECOGNIZED: The 16 provisionally recognized colleges are: Baqai Medical College, Karachi; Baqai Dental College, Karachi; Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi; Jinnah Medical and Dental College, Karachi; Sir Syed College of Medical Sciences for Girls, Karachi; Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Karachi, dental section of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro; Karachi Medical and Dental College, Karachi; Fatima Memorial Hospital/College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore; Islamic International Medical College, Rawalpindi; Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore; dental section of Nishtar Medical College, Multan; Frontier Medical College, Abbottabad; Kabir Medical College/GIMS, Peshawar; Sardar Begum Dental College, NWFP; and dental sections of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad, and Bolan Medical College, Quetta.

UNDER SCRUTINY: The 13 colleges under scrutiny and not recognized are: Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Karachi; faculty of medicine and allied medical sciences of Isra University, Hyderabad; Liaquat Ali Khan Memorial College of Dentistry, Karachi; Muhammad Medical College, Mirpurkhas; Ziauddin Medical College, Karachi; Foundation Medical College, Rawalpindi; Independent Medical College, Faisalabad, Islamabad Medical and Dental College, Islamabad; Margala Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad; Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad; Gomal Medical College, D.I. Khan, Saidu Medical College, Swat; and Women Medical College, Abbottabad.

The 29 colleges have been directed not to admit new students or conduct promotional examinations for six months until the PMDC reinspects the institutions.

Dr Hashmi said the decision was taken during a PMDC meeting held during its 97th session on Jan 29 and 30.

Majority of the colleges in the lists were facing problems as their faculties were not complete.

He said the council had divided the colleges into four categories.

The first category comprises colleges that have minor deficiencies but fulfil most of the requirements according to the criteria developed by the council.

In the second category, colleges with mild-to-moderate deficiencies and having been given temporary or provisional recognition are placed.

The third category is of colleges which have gross deficiencies and the fourth category is of colleges which were affiliated with universities outside their provinces.

RECOGNITION CRITERIA: About the criteria to recognize a college, he said the medical colleges were required to submit a comprehensive feasibility report, including information about relevant documents of ownership, possession and plan of academic blocks, adequate physical facilities for academic blocks, dissection halls, common rooms, cafeteria, medical/dental equipment related to laboratories, libraries, different models and information technology. He said the college must be financially viable to be recognized and the financial resources should be clearly indicated according to the level, size and type of the institutions.

He said the faculty of the college should be employed full time and qualified and added that the curriculum vitae (CVs) of every faculty member and staff should be made available to the PMDC for scrutiny with terms of reference for employment.

Adequate transport facilities for students, teachers and staff must be available keeping in mind locality of the institutions, number of students and other logistics, he said. The library should be well equipped with latest edition of reference books and journals.

One of the most important requirements, he said, was that the hospital should be well equipped and must be functional with a criteria of five beds per annual admission. At least 50 per cent of the beds should be free of charge. The attached hospitals should also provide emergency treatment with all standard requirements besides having modern diagnostic facilities, with closed-circuit television for educational purposes.

He said the colleges must be affiliated with a university of the respective province.

He said the recognition were given by the PMDC after inspecting the college, the first inspection was done within two years of inception of the college, after which recognition was granted for the first professional class only.

The second inspection is done when the class is in the 3rd and 4th year and then a comprehensive inspection is done when the students are in the final year.

He said the fourth inspection was done at the time of the final professional examination.