KARACHI, Dec 31: The chairman of the selection board for medical admissions and principal of the Dow Medical College, Prof Illahi Bakhsh Soomro, on Monday issued the list of candidates selected for admission to MBBS classes in the two government-run medical colleges in the city.
Two separate lists of students found eligible for admission to the Dow Medical College and the Sindh Medical College were put on display at the main entrance of the DMC.
Some students pointed out the fact that the merit list on display was labelled as “provisional merit list”. The wondered why it was not called the final merit list.
Mr Soomro, however, said that the merit list on display at the DMC was a final one.
The selection board also displayed the provisional merit list of 164 candidates seeking admissions on a self-finance basis in the DMC and the SMC.
The DMC list of admissions on open merit, which comprised 246 names, began with 86.03 per cent of marks and concluded at 73.66 per cent of marks. In the SMC’s case, admissions started with 76.03 score of Saira Khalid who had given the SMC as her first option.
The selection board received 260 applications for admissions on a self-finance basis, out of which 164 cases were included in the merit list that began with 69.99 score. In all, 46 seats — 23 each at the DMC and the SMC — are available for local candidates under the scheme.
The candidates seeking admission to the two government-run medical colleges in the city once again visited the DMC to check their names in the fresh admission list during the day. Some of the students whose names were not included in the list said that they had come to the college to withdraw their original documents so that they could apply for admission to the Karachi Medical and Dental College or Karachi University. College officials, however, refused to issue the documents, asking the students to come back the following day.
However, Dr Soomro, the chariman of the selection board, said that there was no restriction on handing over of documents to the candidates. “About 50 candidates, after establishing their identification, received their documents on Monday”.
He said that documents were not being given back either to those who were not the applicants themselves, such as parents/ guardians, or those who had allegedly been involved in irregularities in the entrance test. “We are waiting for directives from the Sindh health department whether to return the documents to the 24 students who have been found involved in malpractice during the admission process or not.”
Answering another question, the principal said that the DMC would start sending offer letters to candidates through urgent mail service.
After receiving the letters students would be in a position to submit the required fees for finalization of admission in the DMC, he said, and added that students could receive the offer letters in person as well from Jan 2 onwards.
Under the health department’s schedule, teaching for the first year students will start from Jan 7. Students selected for the SMC have also been advised to visit the college for finalization of the admission process.