ISLAMABAD, June 22: The government is contemplating a proposal to introduce a standard national testing and equalization examination for thousands of fresh medical graduates of public and private medical institutions.

The proposal, likely to be forwarded by the Senate Standing Committee on Health to the authorities concerned, will make it mandatory for fresh doctors to sit in the exam and clear it before getting recognition as medical practitioners, a source told Dawn.

The government’s move is aimed at ensuring quality of medical education in the country, he said, adding that the proposal, if approved, would make it mandatory for a student graduating from top public medical colleges like King Edwards Medical College to compete with those coming from private medical institutions.

The results would enable the authorities to monitor the standard of education throughout the country.

Meanwhile, an official said the concept, also practised in different countries, was being suggested through a set of proposed amendments to the PMDC Ordinance 1973 to standardize medical education.

Earlier, students who had done medicine from abroad had to take a similar examination to get themselves registered as doctors, the official said, adding that the scope of equalization examination was being widened to encompass fresh medical graduates from different institutions.

“This will not only serve as an evaluation process in determining which medical institution, whether public or private, is imparting quality education in the country, but also automatically filter out those institutions that lack proper faculty, infrastructure or failed to meet the criteria set out by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC),” the official said.

About 4,500 doctors and 700 dentists graduate each year from different medical institutions who then have to apply to the PMDC to get themselves registered as doctors.

Amendments being proposed by the health ministry also seek to make the PMDC a strong, autonomous, credible, but accountable institution.

“The PMDC should be a self-regulatory organization which should run its affairs in a transparent manner,” the source said, adding that new amendments to the ordinance had been proposed after seeking inputs from all stakeholders including the PMDC itself and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan (CPSP).

The amendments, to be presented to the cabinet and then to the parliament for final approval, also seek to appoint a highly- paid full-time president of the PMDC who should be a man of stature with impeccable character having a sound medical background.

The president would be required to sit at the head office of the council in the capital to decide important issues in consultation with the council members.

Similarly, the PMDC council would also be required to create three separate offices of secretary, registrar and treasurer to overlook administrative affairs, academics and financial matters, respectively.

At present, the council’s secretary is supervising all affairs, though the PMDC law clearly stipulates to create such offices. The PMDC has also forwarded its own amendments to the government, suggesting appointments of these offices with the additional post of an auditor.

Meanwhile, the government’s proposed amendment emphasized the need for creating an appellate mechanism against the decision of the 56-member PMDC council.

The appellate board should have representatives of both public and private medical institutions, who are also council members, a surgeon general, director-general health and member legal of PMDC.

The proposed amendments seek to end the practice of awarding provisional recognition to any medical institution. Instead, recognition would be given to medical colleges for five years after devising a checklist of mandatory conditionalities for recognition.

Amendments also intended to introduce the concept of committees comprising members of the council which should deal with different aspects concerning medical education in the country.