ISLAMABAD: While the quality of medical education has been deteriorating across the country, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has increased passing marks to 70 per cent from 50pc and attendance to 90pc instead of 75pc for MBBS and BDS.

According to a notification available with Dawn, the minimum attendance benchmark for medical/dental colleges has been raised to 90pc instead of 75pc to ensure adequate curricular exposure and practical experience. The passing marks in the annual MBBS/BDS examination increased from 50pc to 70pc. Similarly, the council declared Chemistry and Biology as mandatory subjects to make an expatriate candidate eligible for admission.

“Expatriate candidates holding a Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) or A-Level qualification from either inside or outside Pakistan, accompanied by an equivalence certificate from the Inter Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC), with Chemistry and Biology as mandatory subjects and Physics or Mathematics as optional subjects, are eligible for admission to MBBS/BDS programs on specified seats,” it stated.

While explaining the self-finance and foreign quota seats, it stated: “No candidate shall be eligible for foreign quota seats in the public and private medical and dental institutions unless he/she holds a permanent foreign nationality or is an overseas (being a Pakistani citizen permanently resident in a foreign country) Pakistani, Green Card holder, Iqama holder, Maple Leaf card holder and who has studied and passed HSSC 12th grade examination or equivalent from outside Pakistan and is a resident of a foreign country at the time of applying for admission and possess a certificate from the institution last attended to this effect,” it stated. There are about 190 medical and dental colleges across the country and tens of thousands of students are enrolled in these facilities.

Students will need to score 70pc instead of 50pc, attend 90pc classes to pass

Grace marks not given

Meanwhile, a PMDC report, available with Dawn, revealed that grace marks were not given to any candidate by Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) in the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) held recently.

It is worth mentioning that some students and their parents had alleged that grace marks were given to some candidates and they also approached the Islamabad High Court and the Peshawar High Court.

A nine-member body led by PMDC Member Legal Barrister Ch Sultan Mansoor convened its meeting on January 27 at the PMDC office which was attended by all its members. Representatives of the SZABMU and petitioners along with their counsels were asked to appear before the committee.

“The representative of SZABMU submitted that after post-hoc analyses, 14 of 200 questions were found above the difficulty index and incorrect keys, and it was decided that those questions would not be added for final merit calculations and the final result of MDCAT would be calculated with the exclusion of 14 questions,” it said, reiterating that grace marks were not given to any student.

“The committee after the patient hearing to the petitioners their representatives and other aggrieved parties found that their claims were without merit and baseless. The university conducted the MDCAT in a fair and transparent manner, completing the process,” it stated. A senior official of the health ministry, wishing not to be quoted, said that it was unfortunate that the classes were delayed every year because of such litigation.

“While I was doing my MBBS in the early 1990s, classes used to start in October, but for the last several years it has become a routine that even admissions are not concluded till February. Resultantly, the course cannot be completed which affects the quality of education,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2025