ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has recommended to the provincial health departments to address the growing gap between medical graduates and available postgraduate (PG) training opportunities.

It observed that the imbalance is a key factor contributing to the increasing migration of skilled medical graduates abroad in search of better training and career opportunities.

The recommendation has been sent considering the decision of the PMDC council taken last month.

“Pakistan has made substantial progress in undergraduate medical education over the past two decades, resulting in an adequate and in certain disciplines surplus output of medical graduates. However, this expansion has not been accompanied by a commensurate increase in structured and funded postgraduate training positions,” said a PMDC spokesperson in a statement.

“As a result, a large number of qualified doctors compete each year for a limited number of PG residency slots, particularly in the public sector, where most accredited training programmes are administered. The council expressed concern that the primary bottleneck lies not in the supply of graduates, but in the insufficient availability of training positions and subsequent employment pathways,” he said.

The council observed that the imbalance was a key factor contributing to the increasing migration of skilled medical graduates abroad in search of better training and career opportunities.

It emphasised that under the PMDC Act, 2022, the council was mandated to regulate standards, accreditation and recognition of medical and dental education and training.

However, the establishment, expansion and funding of postgraduate training positions fall within the constitutional and administrative jurisdiction of provincial health departments, which oversee public sector hospitals, including tertiary care institutions, district headquarters (DHQs) and tehsil headquarters (THQs) hospitals.

PMDC President Prof Dr Rizwan Taj emphasised that after detailed deliberation, the council has unanimously recommended expanding PG training capacity by substantially increasing the number of postgraduate training positions in public sector healthcare institutions and, where feasible, doubled in a phased and fiscally responsible manner, aligned with the annual output of medical graduates and evolving provincial healthcare needs.

“The upgradation of existing public sector hospitals, including DHQs and THQs, as training centres should be undertaken to develop them as accredited postgraduate training institutions in accordance with PMDC standards,” he said. “Postgraduate training positions should be linked with transparent, merit-based career progression pathways within the public health system to improve retention of trained specialists and strengthen healthcare delivery at secondary and tertiary levels,” Prof Rizwan said.

He said that the expansion of postgraduate training positions would play a pivotal role in accommodating a greater number of graduates within the country. Importantly, such expansion would also contribute to addressing the persistent shortage of qualified faculty in medical institutions, as postgraduate trainees and specialists form the backbone of future teaching and supervisory roles.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2026