Neb exams: PMDC sets up cell for foreign students

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has setup a grievance redressal cell for all foreign medical and dental graduates who sat the National Examination Board (NEB) examinations.

According to PMDC, the purpose of establishing this cell is to address issues faced by foreign graduates who sit the exam and register any complaints regarding the NEB exam.

The president has deputed the registrar and deputy registrar National Examination Board (NEB) to take prompt action on the complaints.

NEB has remained a challenge for PMDC, and in the recent past, the new PMDC council began taking strict measures to ensure transparency in the exam as multiple complaints and stories surfaced by the press about bribery and corruption.

PMDC President Prof Dr Shabir Lahri said that last NEB Exam Step-III was held in April 2015 by Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Karachi, due to which the time of foreign graduates had been wasted.

He said exams were previously held in hotels, whereas now, they are taken in a real hospital set up. Practical tests are also taken to assess candidates’ clinical skills.

He said that for the first time, the NEB Exam was evaluated by a third party — the British Council.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th,  2016.