ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: Pakistan Medical and Dental Council has deregistered 10 private medical colleges located in various cities in the four provinces after they failed to remove professional deficiencies.

PMDC President Prof Dr M. Hayat Zafar and Vice-President Dr Abdullah Jan Jaffar told reporters on Monday that some other colleges were under scrutiny and had been put on notice with a direction to remove these deficiencies within six months, failing which they would also be deregistered.

The colleges whose registration has been cancelled are: Vohra Medical College Karachi, Bhutta Medical College Faisalabad, Pakistan Medical College Sargodha, Swat Medical and Dental College, Ibne Seena Medical College Karachi, Juniper Dental College Quetta, Rajput Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad, Ravi Medical College Lahore, King Fahad College of Medicine and Dentistry Karachi, Imam Hussain Medical and Dental College Islamabad.

The PMDC officials said that the council was concerned about the mushroom growth of private medical and dental colleges in the country.

The PMDC has put the medical colleges into four categories: colleges that have minor deficiencies but fulfil most of the requirements according to the criteria set by the PMDC, colleges that have mild to moderate deficiencies and have been given temporary recognition only, colleges that have gross deficiencies, and colleges that are affiliated with the universities other than the provinces where they are located.

The PMDC officials said that the colleges, which were provisionally recognized but suspended for six months by the PMDC, had been directed not to admit new students and hold promotional examination till the deficiencies were rectified. Similarly, they added, the colleges that had acquired wrong affiliation with universities outside their provinces had been asked to correct their affiliation.

“We have nothing against private medical/dental colleges except that these should meet the minimum laid down requirements of the PMDC to ensure that the patient treatment is safe and his/her rights are protected,” they said.

They regretted that the PMDC had no legal authority to take action against the deficient medical colleges except cancelling their registration. “We have invited the attention of the government to this effect many times but in vain.”

They said that the PMDC had set up a national examination board to conduct examinations for medical and dental graduates as the PMDC was increasingly feeling dissatisfied with the standard of degrees awarded to doctors by neighbouring countries, central Asian estates, etc.

The council has also formed a committee to revise the clinical and pre-clinical syllabus in collaboration with the University Grants Commission, they said.