Students are attending a lecture in Microbiology Lab at Abdullah College for Women in Karachi - Photo by Suhail Yusuf

KARACHI Female students in Pakistan have been outnumbering their male counterparts in intermediate pre-medical studies, according to latest statistics. The pattern shows a vast gender-base difference in pre-medical classes and was also seen in medical colleges as well.

According to the Chairman of Board of Intermediate Education, Karachi (BIEK) Professor Anwar Ahmed Zai, statistics from the past few years clearly show an acute rise in girls adopting pre-medical studies and the number of boys declining sharply.

“Medicine has become less attractive for boys just because of a lack of jobs available after doing MBBS and relatively there are more opportunities after commerce studies, therefore, boys are opting more for commerce subjects.” Ahmed Zai said.

“Girls are more interested in pre-medical classes because having an MBBS degree for a girl is a guarantee for good marriage proposals. Secondly, she could be a helping hand for her husband after marriage in future,” Ahmed Zai added.

Planning needed

The matter may be a result of mismanagement and wrong planning. Policy makers should see how many doctors are needed every five years and in medical colleges, gender-based seats should be allocated according to demands, Ahmed Zai opinionated.  

Speaking about hundreds of vacant positions for doctors in rural areas of Sindh, he said that a medical graduate from outside Sindh often only practiced in big cities, which created a vacuum in other areas. A law is needed to make certain that first a fresh doctor will have to serve in his or her area at basic health units for at least two years, and then he or she can be allowed to freely work in any part of Pakistan.

According to statistics provided by BIEK, 3,546 boys appeared in Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) part two exams as compared to 12,979 girls. This makes the number of girls three times higher. 72.68 per cent girls appeared in pre-medical exams while the boys only made 27.32 per cent.

The trend is consistent for 2009 and 2010 as 73.76 per cent girls opted for pre-medical studies against 26.23 per cent of boys in 2009 and finally in 2010, 26.07 per cent boys studied pre-medical against 73.92 per cent girls. Figures of these three years indicated the gradual rise of girls in pre-medical studies.

Vice Chancellor of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Professor Dr Masood Hameed acknowledged the pattern and said that it is confirmed by the current ratio of boys and girls at DUHS.

Prior to the late 90s, the seat allocation ratio of boys and girls was 73 respectively, but after a Supreme Court decision, an open merit policy was applied in all public medical universities and colleges.

Replying to a question about the consequences of this gap, he said that they were facing shortage of doctors for night duties because female doctors usually avoided overnight shifts.

Regarding female students quitting their jobs after MBBS studies, he said that it is true that many females do not practice medicine after MBBS. It is a loss of billion of rupees because students only pay a fraction of the amount spent in four years and the rest is spent by the government.  

Dr Hameed is also a principal investigator of a study to confirm the exact picture of non-productivity of females after MBBS.

“We don't have data regarding this issue but we are working on a study to asses the actual numbers and position of females. The data will be ready within six to eight months and if the inactivation of females is proved after MBBS, then we move towards the court and request it to change the open merit criteria of gender based allocation of medical seats,” he added.

Bucks and brain drain

Each year public medical colleges like DUHS spend Rs.4 lakhs per annum on each student which makes Rs.20 lakhs for the five years MBBS program. There is a need to formulate an undertaking or bond for the doctors not to leave the country.

“Few weeks back some 1,400 Pakistani doctors were hired in the Middle East by a recruitment company and earlier 350 doctors flew to other countries, which are a great loss of government resources,” said Dr Hameed.

Dr Hameed said that if a fresh medical graduate wants to leave the country for better jobs without working in Pakistan he should give back the entire amount to the government whether in one go or in installments.

He also urged that medicine is a time consuming discipline and needs a lot of resources. It is an “essential service” thus we have to devise an aptitude test for the students to determine whether they really want a career as a doctor - acquiring higher marks in biological sciences is not merely a criteria to be a doctor.