ISLAMABAD: While the schedule for the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) has been announced, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has decided to convince provincial universities to establish examination centres in the federal capital as well.

According to the schedule, available with Dawn, online registration of candidates will start from August 8 and will close on August 25, with a non-refundable fee of Rs9,000.

Registration with a late fee of Rs13,000 will begin from September 1. The test will be held on October 5 (Sunday) at 10am across the country.

For the international centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the regular and late fees will be Rs45,000 and Rs55,000, respectively.

It is worth mentioning that passing the MDCAT is mandatory for admission to medical and dental colleges in Pakistan. Each year, around 200,000 candidates appear in the test, but only about 10 per cent manage to secure admission to public and private sector colleges across the country.

Currently, four different universities conduct the MDCAT in the four provinces, while Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) conducts the test in the federal capital, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

In the past, students were allowed to appear in the MDCAT conducted by any university and then apply for admission in their respective provinces. However, this year, it has been decided that students must appear in the province where they hold domicile.

The decision has created difficulties for tens of thousands of candidates residing in Islamabad, including children of armed forces officials, who will now have to travel to their home provinces to sit for the MDCAT.

This will impose additional financial burdens, particularly on families from rural Sindh and Balochistan, who will have to travel to Karachi or Quetta and arrange accommodation.

Farooq Sheikh, a resident of Sindh, told Dawn that his daughter wished to appear in the MDCAT in Islamabad, as they have lived in the federal capital for decades.

“My father’s domicile was from Sindh, so I also obtained mine from the same province. My children were born in Islamabad, but their domicile is also from Sindh. They received their education in the federal capital, but under the PMDC decision, I now have to take my daughter to Karachi or Hyderabad to appear in the test,” he said.

Mutahir Shah, a resident of Balochistan, said the decision was even more distressing for those holding Balochistan domiciles.

“PMDC has put our children’s future at stake. Most people have stopped travelling to Balochistan due to security concerns, but PMDC is forcing us to take our children to Quetta,” he said.

“A number of parents may not be able to take leave, or may have other children taking exams in Islamabad at the same time. The federal government should intervene to ensure that candidates are allowed to appear in MDCAT in Islamabad. It seems PMDC makes decisions without considering their consequences or the difficulties faced by candidates,” Mr Shah added.

When contacted, a senior PMDC official said the council had discussed the issue with vice chancellors of the universities, but they were reluctant to allow candidates to appear in other provinces.

“Last year, 2,000 candidates from Balochistan appeared in the MDCAT conducted by SZABMU in Islamabad. Later, SZABMU’s result was stayed, which delayed admissions in the province. Similar delays occurred in Sindh and KP, as a number of students appeared in Islamabad,” the official said.

When asked how the PMDC could allow such hardship for students, the official said the council would suggest to universities in all four provinces that centres also be established in Islamabad, so candidates with provincial domiciles but residing in Islamabad could take the test there.

“I hope the vice chancellors will agree, as they only need to establish a few centres. PMDC will assist in arranging the facilities to conduct the MDCAT,” the official explained.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2025