LAHORE, Jan 13: A meeting of the Academic Council of King Edward Medical University has approved certain changes in the framework of MD/MS/MDS postgraduate programmes.

Chaired by KEMU vice-chancellor Prof Dr Asad Aslam Khan here on Friday, the meeting also approved rules to make the entry test more transparent besides giving approval for increasing the number of examiners in final examinations.

The council gave approval to start masters in the Health Professional Education, for which the curriculum committee chairman shall submit the detailed curriculum in the next aca-demic council meeting. The council decided that the MD/MS/MDS postgraduate programmes should be of four-year duration.

The said programmes are: MD programme internal medicine, MD programme pediatric medicine, MD programme preventive medicine, MD programme radiology, MD programme dermatology, MD programme family medicine, MD programme psychiatry, MD programme oncology, MD programme cardiology, MS programme general surgery, MS programme obstetrics and gynecology, MS programme ophthalmology, MS programme ENT, MS programme anesthesia, MS programme urology, MSprogramme pediatric surgery and MDS programme oral and maxillofacial surgery.

While the five-year duration was approved for the MD/MS/MDS postgraduate programmes which included MD programme neurology, MD programme gastroenterology, MS programme orthopaedic surgery, MS programme plastic surgery, MS programme cardiac surgery and MS programme neurosurgery. The council approved that the minimum passing marks to get admission shall be 60 per cent and in final examinations only those candidates in oral and practical shall be eligible who obtain 60 per cent marks in the theory.