LAHORE: The University of Health Sciences (UHS) received nearly 100 complaints of the students who appeared for the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) conducted by the university across Punjab on Sunday. Most complaints were related to the ‘wrong and confusing questions and answers’ while others were miscellaneous, an official, privy to the information, told Dawn.

The official said IT experts referred the students’ complaints to the panel of subject specialists to respond quickly and resolve them as per the policy. He claimed the subject specialists, present in the secrecy branch of the UHS, quickly responded to the complaints and resolved them.

UHS Vice Chancellor Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore declared the complaints a routine practice, saying the varsity received miscellaneous complaints every year during the MDCAT. This year, he added, those who had concerns about specific questions or answers were advised to submit complaints through the UHS’s online portal for the first time.

“Candidates were allowed to submit complaints regarding any question’s stem or options between 2pm and 6pm on the test day.”

For those wishing to challenge the answer key, complaints can be lodged between 10am and 6pm today (on Sept 23),” the UHS VC said and added that the university had formed a panel of subject experts, nominated by the boards of intermediate and secondary education (BISEs) in Punjab, to review the complaints and respond accordingly.

According to the reports, a total of 58,379 candidates, including 40,363 girls and 18,016 boys, sat the MDCAT across the province. Sixteen public sector medical colleges offered 3,376 MBBS and three public dental colleges 240 BDS seats. Additionally, there were 4,000 MBBS and 1,025 BDS seats available in 49 private sector institutions. The final results will be announced in a week, after which the admission process will commence. Held across 26 centers in 12 major cities of Punjab, including Lahore, the exams lasted three-and-a-half hours.

The UHS conducted the exam with the help of 4,253 invigilators deployed across Punjab, including 1,000 in Lahore alone.

In Lahore, a total of 11,735 girls and 4,655 boys appeared in the test, in Multan, 11,765 candidates took the test, in Bahawalpur the number was 3,669, Faisalabad had 6,539; Gujranwala 3,481; Sialkot 2,440, Sahiwal 3,406, Rawalpindi 2,325, Sargodha 2,546, Gujrat 1,411, Rahim Yar Khan 1,516 while 2,891 candidates sat the exam in DG Khan.

Later in the evening, the UHS uploaded the answer key to its website, allowing candidates to calculate their scores using the carbon copies of their bubble sheets.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2024