ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has prepared upgraded drafts of accreditation standards for medical colleges and teaching hospitals.

Moreover, guidelines for MBBS curriculum, competencies of medical graduates and medical house job have also been finalised for the year 2024.

PMDC said it has been working on the upgradation of medical and dental standards for the last three months. These standards will be implemented after the approval of the academic board and the council.

PMDC President Prof Dr Rizwan Taj on Thursday told media that accreditation standards for medical colleges at the undergraduate level will serve important purposes each of which will ultimately benefit both students and the healthcare system.

“After extensive hard work all these medical dental accreditation standards, rules and regulations have been forwarded to Academic Board Committee for deliberation and approval. These accreditation standards will set high standards for the quality of education provided by medical colleges, including faculty qualifications, curriculum content, teaching methods, facilities and resources,” he said.

Dr Taj said those standards will ensure that students would receive high-quality education that meets specific quality and rigor standards, protecting them from investing time and money in substandard programmes.

“With these accredited standards, medical colleges will be able to provide students with the knowledge, skills and experiences necessary for success in their future medical practice,” he said.

“We have also prepared drafts for accreditation standards for dental colleges for undergraduate education, inspection proforma for 50 BDS admissions, accreditation standards for dental clinical teaching facilities/hospitals for undergraduate dental education, competencies of BDS graduates and dental surgeons, guidelines for BDS curriculum which will be implemented in year 2024,” he said.

“Accreditation standards are crucial in dental education, ensuring that dental colleges maintain high-quality educational programmes. These standards will cover faculty qualifications, curriculum content, teaching methods and clinical training facilities.”

These will also help design curricula that prepare students for future dental careers, developing competencies in areas like patient care, communication, critical thinking and ethical decision-making, he said. The ultimate goal of designing these standards was to produce competent, well-rounded dental professionals who would meet patients’ oral health needs and contribute positively to the dental profession.

He stated that PMDC had also devised drafts of PMDC powers and functions rules, a code of ethics about professional conduct, licensing regulations, National Medical Scholarship Fund and Trust Rules, PMDC finance rules, examination regulations, amendment to admission regulations and student registration regulations 2024.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2024