Changes affect number of foreign universities recognized by the PM&DC, decide who can receive provisional license
The new rule change issued by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) has created a storm of confusion among Pakistanis who were foreign medical college graduates. The changes affect the number of foreign universities recognized by the PMDC, deciding who can receive a provisional license necessary to continue their local work or who must pass the National Registration Examination (NRE) exam to obtain a provisional license.
What are the changes?
Only graduates from foreign medical universities recognized by PM&DC will be eligible for:
• Provisional registration
• Domestic jobs in Pakistan
In case the student has graduated from an unrecognized foreign medical university, he or she will be required to appear at the NRE to receive the provisional license.
This policy primarily affects students studying in the following countries:
• Porcelain
• Russia
• Kyrgyzstan
• Kazakhstan
• Azerbaijan
According to the statement shared by PM&DC, most of the affected students are those who started their education in foreign universities during the time that the PM&DC Ordinance 1962 and the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) Act 2020 were in force. “Most of the affected students have obtained degrees from institutions mainly from Afghanistan, Central Asian republics like Kyrgyzstan, Iran, etc.”
However, a new council was constituted in April 2023, and the respective council has implemented several reforms “to promote medical education.” PM&DC states that these new norms are introduced with the intention of “ensuring patient safety and strengthening the national healthcare system”. According to the notification shared by PM&DC, the institution is increasing the processing fee “for inclusion in the list of recognized institutions of PM&DC” from $5,000 to $10,000.
Confusion over the new policies began when this year’s summer graduates returned to the country.
Foreign Medical Graduates (FMG) elected representative Dr Rafey Sher detailed the confusion on the ground. “When we graduated and returned to Pakistan, our university was recognized in the new list and students from the batch who had graduated just six months before us were able to obtain their provisional licenses (required for domestic work). However, when we returned, we found our portals closed. The PM&DC told us that this was due to an IT issue, which persisted for two months, after which they announced a policy change.”
Dr. Rafey Sher graduated from the International University of Kyrgyzstan (IUK), a university that is on the recognized list of the PM&DC, but is yet to get a provisional license.
After much public backlash and criticism, the PM&DC issued a press release addressing the students’ issues, detailing why the policy had changed and how the department will behave in the future.
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PM&DC claims that only 700 students are unable to obtain their licences, FMG claims that the figure is closer to 3,000. When The Express PAkGazette asked Dr Rafey to justify the figure, he claimed that 700 students were the ones who were able to access their portals and their applications were rejected. The 3,000 figure includes students who graduated and returned to find their portals inaccessible.
The statement said that after deliberating on the grievances expressed by the students, “accordingly, it has been decided that only those graduates of foreign institutions duly recognized by the PM&DC are eligible for issuance of provisional registration with the NRE.”
According to Dr. Rafey, this statement was not reflected on the ground: “After announcing the new policy, I visited their office in person and they denied their own press release.” Dr. Rafey also went to Parliament, where he gained the support of many members of the Pakistan People’s Party, and also had the opportunity to meet with the Federal Minister for Health, Mustafa Kamal.
“I detailed to him how even though my university was on the list of recognized institutions, I did not receive my provisional license. I have already lost 4-5 months and now all the vacancies for domestic jobs are filled. We have wasted a year of our time, although according to your press release, we should have been able to start our domestic jobs without applying to NRE.”
Dr Fatima Abid, director of admissions at Jinnah Sindh Medical University, tells The Express PAkGazette that many graduates of universities in Sindh face a similar situation. “Several universities in Sindh appear on the approved list (including DUHS, JSMS, LUMHS, Isra University), many graduates have reported delays in receiving their provisional licenses.”
She went on to urge the PM&DC to provide clarity to students on delays which she said arise from inspection reports or delays in procedures, and emphasized that timely issuance of licenses is vital for domestic work placements in public hospitals.
The Express PAkGazette approached the PM&DC for a comment on their new policies and the allegations leveled against them by the FMGs, but they did not respond.
