KARACHI / ISLAMABAD: The representative body of the medical fraternity, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), has issued a stinging rebuke following a proposal by the registrar of a public sector university to lower admission percentage thresholds for medical colleges.

The Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University (SMBBMU), Larkana, had recently approached the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) to revise the passing marks for admissions to MBBS and BDS for the session 2025-26 to help fill the vacant seats in private medical and dental educational institutions of Sindh.

Without naming the university, PMA Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro said: “The PMA categorises this move as a blatant attempt to prioritise the commercial viability of institutions over the sanctity of human life and the future of Pakistan’s healthcare.”

In a statement issued on Saturday, he said: “The PMA expresses ‘deep regret and grave concern’ that an administrative head of a public academic institution would advocate for lowering standards at the behest of specific interest groups. This unprecedented support for mediocrity is not just an administrative shift, it is a systemic betrayal of the meritocratic values that underpin the medical profession.”

Asks PMDC to reject all proposals to lower admission percentages and maintain strictly merit-based, uniform admission policy

“Medicine is a field where there is zero margin for error. Lowering the bar for entry will inevitably flood the nation with ill-qualified practitioners, turning our healthcare system into a recipe for disaster,” Dr Shoro said.

While the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) serves as a gatekeeper, the PMA has asserted that it was not a “magic bullet” for the declining quality of students. The PMA has highlighted that the rot begins much earlier.

“The real crisis lies in the crumbling primary and secondary education sectors. Any meaningful reform is impossible without first purging the systemic corruption within lower-level examination boards and administrative bodies. Pakistan must produce ‘good students’ from the school level rather than trying to fix a broken educational trajectory at the final hour,” the statement claimed.

The PMA has challenged the narrative that Pakistan suffers from a shortage of medical graduates. Instead, the association pointed to a “Massive Brain Drain” fuelled by a hostile professional environment. “Pakistan’s most brilliant minds are fleeing due to awfully low salary packages that do not reflect the years of rigour, a severe lack of career progression and postgraduate training slots, security threats, a lack of professional respect and undue pressure from government institutions”, it claimed.

The PMA has officially called upon the PMDC and provincial authorities to take a stand for the integrity of the profession.

“Our demands are clear: categorically dismiss all proposals to lower admission percentages, maintain a strictly merit-based, uniform admission policy across the board and address the ‘Exodus of Doctors’ by improving working conditions, safety and remuneration,” it added.

“Producing a high volume of substandard practitioners will not heal our nation; it will only deepen its wounds. The association remains the vanguard of medical standards, committed to ensuring that only the most capable are entrusted with the lives of Pakistani citizens,” Dr Shoro stated.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2026