LAHORE: More than 56,000 candidates (36,000 female and 20,000 male) will appear on Sunday (today) in the entrance test for the Punjab medical/dental colleges to be conducted by the University of Health Sciences (UHS).

The Punjab government has finalized arrangements for the test and deputed senior bureaucrats, including provincial secretaries, divisional commissioners and BoR members, as monitoring officers whereas senior medical professors will conduct the test.

The district coordination officers (DCOs) of respective districts will act as ‘focal persons’ to look after the arrangements for the test. The UHS has deputed around 5,000 invigilators and supervisory staff for conducting the test.

56,000 candidates to sit exam at 27 centres in Punjab

The test will be held simultaneously at 27 centres established in Punjab’s 13 cities -- Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Sargodha, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Dera Ghazi Khan and Hasanabdal.

The test will start at 9am, but the candidates have been asked to reach their respective centres at least one hour earlier as all centres will be sealed at 8:15am and nobody will be allowed to enter after that.

Due to expected rain in some cities, the UHS has advised candidates to reach their respective centres early in the morning and also to bring umbrellas or raincoats with them.

In Lahore seven centres have been established at the examination halls of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education on Lawrence Road; examination halls of Punjab University, Wahdat Road; Government Comprehensive Girls High School, Wahdat Road; University of Education, Township; Lahore College for Women University, Jail Road; Government Postgraduate College for Women, Samanabad and Government Central Model School, Lower Mall, where at least 16,800 candidates will sit the test.

The test will comprise 220 multiple choice questions (MCQs), divided into four sections namely physics (44 MCQs), chemistry (58 MCQs), English (30 MCQs) and biology (88 MCQs).

Total duration of the test will be two-and-a-half hours. After the test, the candidates will be required to take a separate test comprising questions related to aptitude and feedback. Extra 30 minutes will be given to the candidates for this test which will have no weightage in the entrance test score.

Total marks of the test will be 1,100. There will be negative marking like the previous years while five marks will be awarded for each correct answer, one mark will be deducted for each incorrect answer.

Briefing on the arrangements, UHS Vice-Chancellor retired General Prof Muhammad Aslam said that candidates were not allowed to bring mobile phones, calculators, laptops, watches or notes to examination centres.

He said no candidate would be allowed to enter the centre without a copy of entrance test application form duly stamped by the bank and a print out of his/her roll number slip.

According to the regulations of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, it is mandatory for a candidate to appear in the provincial entrance test for admission to any public or private medical/dental college of the province.

The candidates seeking admission to private medical colleges will also have to appear in the entrance test of the UHS.

This year the candidates will compete for 3,405 MBBS seats in 17 public sector medical colleges and 216 BDS seats in three public dental colleges of the province.

Apart from this, there are around 3,500 MBBS seats available in 27 private medical colleges and 800 BDS seats in 12 private dental colleges of Punjab.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2016