For medical hopefuls: Medical colleges’ entry test scheduled for September 23

Candidates get to keep carbon copy of their exam.

LAHORE:

The entrance test for admission to medical and dental colleges in the Punjab will be held on September 23 at 12 cities.

This was announced by the University of Health Sciences (UHS) Vice Chancellor Professor IA Naveed on Saturday at an orientation seminar about the test at Allama Iqbal Medical College on Saturday. About 3,000 student and parents attended. AIMC Principal Mahmood Shaukat was also present.

Naveed said the test will be held at Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Sahiwal, DG Khan, Rahim Yar Khan and Hassan Abdal.

He said the test will consist of 220 objective questions. It will be divided into four sections. The physics section will have 44 questions, the chemistry section 58 questions, the english section 30 questions and the biology section 88 questions, he said. The test will start at 9am and last for 150 minutes.

Naveed said candidates will later be asked to take a 30-minute aptitude test and answer feedback questions. He said the aptitude test and the feedback will have no bearing on the entrance test score and will only be used for research to improve the testing.

He said only candidates who have secured at least 60 per cent marks in FSc (Pre Medical) or an equivalent examination would be eligible to take the test. He asked those awaiting results to provide a hope certificate issued by the principal of their institution stating that the candidate was expected to secure at least 60 per cent marks in their examinations. He said students with a domicile in any district of the Punjab, Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan could take the test.

He said entrance test kits will be available at UHS and all public sector medical and dental colleges from August 31. The last date for submission of applications is September 9. He said candidates were free to choose the city where they wanted to appear in the test from but would not be able to change the choice.

He said the candidates should aim to reach their centres at least one hour before the exam since the centres will be sealed at 8:15am. He also asked them to wear their admittance cards.

Naveed said a candidate must mark questions by filling the circles on the response form. “Only one circle must be filled for one question,” he said.

He said candidates will lose a mark for each wrong answer and gain five marks for each correct answer.

He asked the candidates not to bring calculators, cell phones or notes to the examination hall.

He said only blue ball point pens were allowed.

Naveed said the answer key will be uploaded on the website after the test. He said candidates can calculate their scores using a carbon copy of their response form. He said the key will also be published in national dailies the next day.

He said according to Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) regulations, a candidates’ score for the merit list is calculated by adding their matriculation, intermediate and entrance test marks in a ratio of 10:40:50 respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2012.