SAHIWAL: Almost 78 per cent senior faculty positions of professor and associate professor and 40 per cent of other teaching staff are lying vacant in the Sahiwal Medical College (SMC).

It is because of this reason that the SMC has not been recognised by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) even five years after its launch.

The official PMDC website page titled “Not recognized Colleges” recommends to the Ministry of National Health Regulations and Services, Islamabad, the closure of four medical colleges in Pakistan and the SMC is at the top of the list.

There are 103 recommended teaching staff posts under four categories named demonstrator (43), assistant professor (24), associate professor (18) and professor (18).

It is learnt that five posts of demonstrator, eight posts of assistant professor and 14 each vacancies of associate professor and professor are vacant.

Professor Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, SMC Principal, confirmed that vacant senior 78pc senior faculty posts in SMC vacant faculty positions were a major hindrance to the PMDC approval.

“Shortage of senior faculty is also compromising academic quality of medical students of this institution,” Ahmed said.

Commenting on reasons of shortage of senior faculty, the principal said the college lacked resources to bring professors from outside. “It’s the sole responsibility of the provincial health department to appoint staff against vacant posts,” he added.

Through a letter in 2013, the PMDC had asked the SMC to stop further admissions. But the provincial government asked the University of Health Sciences to allocate 100 seats quota to the SMC in 2014.

Dr Iftikhar said the college had admitted 200 students during 2014-15 on the recommendations of the University of Health Sciences.

Talking to this correspondent, a number of students expressed concern over the lack of quality education.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2015

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