Public health: 3,000 consultants await PMDC registration

PMDC says the practitioners had received training at institutions disaffliated a few years ago.

LAHORE:

Nearly 3,000 consultants of various faculties who have passed the Fellow of College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSP) examination since 2012 have not been registered as consultants.

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) that registers medical practitioners has yet to update the consultants’ qualification in its record, saying that they have acquired their post-graduate training at institutions not affiliated with the council.

“More than 30 institutes, including the King Edward Medical University and the Fatima Jinnah Medical College, were disaffiliated by the PMDC a few years ago,” one of the consultants who passed the exam two years ago told The Express Tribune.

He said the consultants who had not been registered had received post- graduate training at government hospitals, including some teaching hospitals.

He said the institutes were affiliated with the council when the consultants had started training. These had been disaffiliated by the time they passed the CPSP exam, he said.

He said the practitioners had not registered due to what he called a tussle between the PMDC and the CPSP.

“Those who do MBBS are registered by the PMDC and allotted a PMDC number. When a doctor does any specialisation, the PMDC mentions that on his record and registers him as a consultant,” another consultant said.

Another consultant said the PMDC had registered dozens of private medical colleges over the last five years. “It seems they have issues with public institutes only.”

“Mayo Hospital is the largest public sector hospital in the country. If the PMDC doesn’t register trainers from the hospital, what will be the plight of those from smaller medical colleges?” He said they had raised the issue two years ago as well. At that time there were 700 consultants who were not registered but the number had gone up to 3,000 now, he said.

“We have been requesting the CPSP and the PMDC to amicably resolve the issue. The PMDC had given relaxation to the consultants some two years ago so that they might apply for consultant posts,” he said.

A PMDC official said the institutes that were disaffiliated had been sent notices but they did not get them registered.

CPSP Regional Director Prof Khalid Masud Gondal said the issue would soon be resolved. “As many as 24 disaffiliated institutes have been registered and registration of consultants has started,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2015.