PMC says no topics added for MDCAT exam
After concerns were expressed by students and other quarters over a reported change in syllabus for the upcoming entrance test for medical colleges, the new regulatory body has clarified that no additional topics outside the current syllabus have been included.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Pakistan Medical Council (PMC) rejected the reports that they had made “abrupt” changes to the syllabus for the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) with many extra topics added than are taught by the federal boards across the country. “This is simply presumptive conjecture stemming from a lack of understanding of PMC’s structure and policies,” the council said.
A spokesperson for the council claimed that in the past, some universities had been consistently limiting their question bank to a reduced set of topics from the Federal Science (FSc) syllabus, resulting in an easier MDCAT for some when compared to others. This inequality in the level of difficulty of different provincial MDCATs consistently resulted in public objections, especially from Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), who found the difficulty level of their exams to be much higher than that of others.
As a result, their students obtained lower marks when compared to aspirants from other provinces and regions.
The official added that this negatively affected the final merit of these students.
After the dissolution of the Pakistan Medical and Dental (PMDC) and the subsequent formation of the PMC, the council official claimed that certain vested interests were scrambling to preserve their status quo of medical examination syllabi as well as the test in and of itself.
“This is why the need for a national standardized test was imperative, as it allowed aspirants from across Pakistan a level playing field in terms of merit when applying to medical colleges,” the official said, explaining that a level playing field was necessary as higher medical education is not only the most arduous disciplines to follow, but any unjust disparity in merit will ultimately lead to the overall experiences of medical students after their admissions and unconducive to promulgating their careers.
“If a student is not sufficiently equipped with the requisite knowledge to pursue a higher education in medicine, they should not be admitted in the first place,” the official said. The PMC, the spokesperson said, had not changed the MDCAT syllabus at all. The official added that there exists no such syllabus for the MDCATs.
MDCAT examination is based on selected topics from the FSc syllabi for limiting the scope of questions to remain in the domain of checking a student’s aptitude to pursue higher medical education, the official said, adding that these domains include the disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and English.
The mandatory prerequisite for admissions into medical colleges is still of an aspirant having passed the FSc (Pre-medical) or equivalent higher secondary school certificate (HSSC).
This year, the PMC reviewed syllabi of all provincial boards on the requisite disciplines to ultimately form an examination that aims to provide a ‘level playing field’ for higher medical education aspirants.
The PMC accused UHS of monopolising medical education and examination practices.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2020.