ISLAMABAD: Scores of foreign graduates held a protest demonstration outside the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) against the delay in the issuance of permission letters to them to appear in the National Examination Board (NEB) test.

The protesters chanted slogans against the government and the management of the PMDC.

However, later acting registrar Dr Shaista Faisal met the foreign graduates and pacified them.

It may be noted that as per the PMDC rules, medical and dental graduates who have qualifications such as Diploma of American Board, FRCS (UK) or equivalent are exempted from the NEB examination. All others, especially those who study MBBS in languages other than English, have to clear the NEB test.

The permission letters to the graduates are issued after confirmation of their degrees from the foreign universities.

On Monday, over 50 foreign graduates reached the PMDC office and demanded that they should be issued the permission letters to sit in the NEB exam. They were in a hurry because January 28 is the last date to get the permission letters.

A foreign graduate requesting not to be identified said the PMDC staff was deliberately delaying the issuance of the letters.

He said the PMDC should complete the process on a priority basis and issue the letters to the graduates because most of them had come from other cities.

“Unfortunately, the PMDC has never been in favour of foreign graduates so it tries to create hurdles for us,” he said.

On the other hand, an official of the PMDC requesting not to be identified said the purpose of the NEB test was to examine the competency and skills of the medical and dental doctors.

“The whole month we sat without work but when the last date approached, the graduates started reaching the PMDC to get the approval letters. We cannot issue the permission letters without a verification of the degrees,” he said.

He alleged that some of the foreign students tortured the PMDC staff forcing them to run and close the doors.

In a statement, the PMDC acting registrar said January 28 was the last date for the issuance of the permission letters to the graduates to appear in the NEB examination.

“The PMDC staff is working round the clock and more staff has been deputed for the smooth working of the section,” she said.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2015

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