09 November 2004	Tuesday	25 Ramazan 1425

LAHORE, Nov 8: The Punjab University Medical Postgraduate Alumni Association (PUMPAA) general body and executive committee have unanimously rejected the Higher Education Commission's recommendations regarding eligibility criteria for appointment of medical teachers.

The PUMPAA general body and executive committee's resolution said the HEC's recommendations were impracticable in Pakistan. On the other hand, it had completely ignored Pakistani university degrees of MS/MD/M.Phil/MDS.

The association said the recommendations had created unrest among thousands of doctors possessing university degrees and waiting for their recruitment, promotion as well as the postgraduate students preparing for their examinations.

It said the Pakistani university degree holders constituted the major group of medical teaching faculties of Pakistan and were recognized internationally.

The association said the implementation of these recommendations would make the universities redundant.

It said all the four provincial governments and the PMDC had declared MS/MD/M.Phil/MDS as superior and higher qualifications with both clinical and research components. It said that it would be unjustified to equate membership from the UK, Diplomate of American Board with PhD.

The association said that recommendations had been issued without consulting the stakeholders, and for this reason, these were impractical. It alleged that these recommendations were based on the act of bias on the part of few officers of HEC against university degrees of Pakistan.

The association requested the HEC to rephrase the eligibility criteria and include MS/MD/M.Phil/MDS to prevent further unrest in the medical community.

The association also decided to hold All Pakistan University seminar on medical education on Nov 20. The seminar will be participated in by delegates from Sindh University Medical Postgraduate Alumni Association (SUMPAA), Quaid-i-Azam University Medical Postgraduate Alumni Association, Baluchistan University Medical Postgraduate Alumni Association, Peshawar University Medical Postgraduate Alumni Association, and faculties and postgraduate students of all universities in the country.