The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has removed the mandatory MDCAT requirement for Pakistani students seeking admission to medical and dental institutions outside the country.
The decision was approved during a PMDC meeting held on September 14 and was subsequently announced by the council.
Under the revised policy, Pakistani students planning to pursue medical or dental education abroad will no longer have to pass the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) as a condition for admission to foreign institutions.
The PMDC notice did not provide details about the reason for removing the requirement. However, PMDC President Dr. Rizwan Taj told Dawn that the decision followed recommendations from a parliamentary committee, which had called for students going abroad to be exempted from the MDCAT requirement.
The matter had also been raised before the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services. The committee had expressed concerns about the earlier policy requiring students to pass MDCAT even when they were applying to medical institutions outside Pakistan.
Concerns Over Foreign Medical Institutions
Parliamentary committees have also raised concerns about Pakistani students enrolling in foreign medical institutions that may not meet acceptable education and training standards.
The relevant committee recommended stronger regulation of foreign medical and dental institutions and called for the publication of a list of institutions that fail to meet PMDC requirements.
A Senate sub-committee had previously questioned the legal basis for making MDCAT compulsory for students seeking admission abroad. Officials had argued that the requirement was intended to discourage students from enrolling in substandard institutions, but committee members questioned whether MDCAT was an appropriate mechanism for achieving that objective.
Requirements for Students Returning to Pakistan
Although MDCAT is no longer required for students seeking medical or dental education abroad, other PMDC requirements will continue to apply to those who later seek to continue their studies or practice in Pakistan.
According to a PMDC official, students who begin their medical education abroad and later seek to transfer to a Pakistani institution will still be required to meet the applicable National Examination Board (NEB) requirements.
Similarly, Pakistani students who complete their medical education abroad and want to practice medicine in Pakistan will have to pass the relevant registration examination for foreign medical graduates.
The PMDC conducts the NEB examination twice a year for foreign-trained medical graduates seeking admission or transfer-related opportunities in Pakistan.
Foreign medical graduates must also fulfil PMDC registration requirements before they can obtain a licence to undertake a house job or practise medicine in the country.
