Messy situation: Future of 300 medical students uncertain

GMMMC, Sukkur has accepted fresh admissions despite being barred from doing so by the PMDC

SUKKUR: The administration of the Ghulam Mohammad Mahar Medical College (GMMMC), Sukkur seems indifferent towards the future of 200 students from its last two batches who have been denied recognition by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) for its failure to meet the requirements of the regulatory body, including lack of facilities, equipment and faculty. Despite this, the college administration has opened fresh admissions, adding another batch of 100 students.

Interestingly, after its establishment in 2003, the GMMMC was recognised by the PMDC but with the passage of time many professors, assistant professors and lecturers were transferred to other medical colleges, thus creating a considerable shortage in the faculty. During this period, the PMDC team kept visiting the college and raised objections on the lack of faculty and other facilities.

Irked by the apathetic attitude of the college administration, the PMDC refused to recognise the last two graduate batches and disallowed the college from opening new admissions. However, the college administration overlooked these directions and opened fresh admissions, raising the number of students with uncertain futures to 300.



A professor at the college requesting anonymity said that they are facing a shortage of faculty, especially in the Pharmacology department, which is being run by a single professor. There should be at least two professors, two assistant professors and a lecturer, he said. Similarly, there is no professor in the Anatomy department and two assistant professors are running the department.

There is no professor or assistant professors in the Physiology department, while only one professor is working in the Biochemistry department. In the Forensic department there is only one professor, while there should be at least two professors, two assistant professors and lecturers. According to him, only one professor and one assistant professor are working in the Pathology department and there is no professor in the Community Medicine department.

"Civil Hospital, Sukkur was associated with the GMMMC as a teaching hospital in 2008," he said, adding that no professors had nine years of teaching experience, as required by the PMDC. "Besides this, we are quite short of general physicians at the teaching hospital and at least 50 more doctors are needed to complete the faculty," the professor added.



Many people are operated upon on a daily basis, but in the evening there are only two doctors for follow-up check-ups, he said. "Some of the post-graduate students of the college used to visit the hospital and check on the patients, if they didn't it would have been difficult for us to manage the teaching hospital," he explained.

"Most of the professors, assistant professors and lecturers who were posted at GMMMC are working at Chandka Medical College, Larkana but still draw salaries from here," the professor claimed. The authorities have tried their best to bring them back but political influence is the biggest hindrance, he said.

GMMMC principal Dr Ghulam Haider Rind claimed that all the requirements of the PMDC have been fulfilled and next week its team will visit the college. When asked why 100 students were newly admitted to the college, despite the ban, he said now that the requirements had been fulfilled, he hoped the PMDC would recognise the new students as well as old batches.

PMDC president Professor Shabbir Lehri confirmed that they will visit GMMMC next week. "Many times we have asked the college administration to fulfill all the requirements, but they didn't take it seriously," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2016.