THIS is with reference to Rafia Zakaria’s article ‘Physicians and patriarchy’. At face value, you cannot but agree to the observations made by the writer.

Clearly female doctors and to a large extent our womenfolk are a victim of the patriarchal mindset, institutional bias and unconscious lifestyle choices. However, many women are unwittingly holding themselves back. They prefer their family over profession by choice.

Objectively, the PMDC’s decision to restrict female seats to 50 per cent makes sense. If female students choose to become career doctors, they should understand that their jobs are too important to multitask. Patients would count on their full attention and they should never set sights on the award for ‘Mother of the Year’.

As pointed out by the PMDC, medical education is supported by state tax money. So if doctors aren’t making full use of their training, taxpayers are losing their investment.

The case for restricting merit-based female students goes well unless you are overly feminist.

Muhammad Faran

Karachi

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014