LAHORE: The PML-N government’s decision to reinstate the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) after abolishing the Pakistan Medical Commission may lead students aspiring to the medical profession abroad in a blind alley.

The development came a few weeks after the PMC (now PMDC), after years-long delay, had reportedly applied for the accreditation by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME). As the process of accreditation was just in its initial phase, the Senate Standing Committee on Health on Tuesday last approved the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Amendment Bill, 2022, with a majority vote, after which the legal status of the PMC ceased to exist.

The medical fraternity fears that the council may again delay the process as it had done in the past, putting the future of young aspirants at risk.

An official said the country’s top regulatory body had not taken steps to get itself accredited by the WFME despite federation’s several reminders since 2014 to the national accreditation bodies throughout the world to comply with their standards by 2024. He said frequent changes of political governments in Pakistan hardly augur well for the regulatory body of the country and those wishing to serve as doctors abroad.

He said Pakistani doctors enjoyed a good reputation the world over and it could be borne out by the fact that most advanced countries had a significant number of healthcare providers from Pakistan. “They not only support their families back home with foreign remittances but also play a pivotal role in the world’s healthcare system by performing high-end research,” he said.

In the US, the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Decent of North America (APPNA) has thousands of Pakistani doctors as its members with a huge base of donations for charity, social and diplomatic work.

He said that in response to the PMC’s request for accreditation, the WFME had a couple of weeks ago conveyed to the commission that its team of 10 delegates may visit in March 2023. This development brought a little bit of relief and raised hope for the Pakistanis willing to move abroad.

However, with the restoration of the PMDC and current political volatility, they feared that the process could either be ignored or delayed.

“The government should immediately communicate to the WFME about the restoration of the PMDC as the process itself entails a lot of legwork that has already been pending for years,” said the official. He added that any further delay could result in missing the deadline of 2024.

The official said the WFME’s goal was to make the world equipped with the doctors of acceptable standards through a regulatory process that ensures that any doctor who intends to enter the workforce internationally has the similar competence no matter which geographic location or country he/she hails from. He lamented that Pakistan was still politicising the medical regulatory body, though most countries with a decent workforce in international healthcare, started the process of compliance many years ago.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2022