A NUMBER of candidates and their parents have been in great stress due to registration issues at the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) portal, and I am one of them. I was offered provisional admission to BDS on a general merit quota at Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) which I accepted and submitted my documents for registration.

However, later the same day, I received a call from the People’s University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women (PUMHSW), Nawabshah, and I was informed that I had been selected for the MBBS programme.

Since MBBS was my first preference, I accepted the offer, but was told that the PMC portal didn’t accept my name for registration in MBBS at PUMHSW since my name was already registered on the PMC portal for BDS at LUMHS.

I was asked by PUMHSW to contact the LUMHS admission directorate for immediate removal of my BDS enrollment from the PMC portal. When I contacted the university, I was told that the PMC portal did not allow removal of my enrollment.

The PUMHSW has confirmed my admission to MBBS programme and I have paid the fees. However, I am told that my MBBS enrollment on the PMC portal would be uploaded once the portal is opened and my BDS registration at LUMHS is deleted.

My PMC profile now shows that I have been admitted to BDS in LUMHS, whereas it was expected that the portal would open and I would be registered into MBBS in PUMHSW.

Since I have been selected on merit basis, I should not be denied the right to study MBBS simply because the PMC portal does not allow medical colleges to make the necessary changes.

The candidate should hold the right to make their choices available to them and it is my fundamental right to study the programme of my choice if I qualify for it. The authorities concerned should look into this matter so that medical candi-dates can get admission according to their choice after being selected on merit basis.

Maanta Devi Dhomeja
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2022