The test will be marked out of a total score of 1100, with each correct answer worth five marks and each incorrect answer resulting in a one mark deduction. PHOTO: FILE
Around 42,000 candidates will appear on Sunday in the University of Health Sciences (UHS) entrance test for admission to medical and dental colleges in the Punjab.
These candidates are competing for 3,405 medical seats and 216 dental seats in 17 public medical colleges and three public dental colleges, and around 3,000 MBBS seats and 700 BDS seats in 28 private medical colleges and 12 private dental colleges.
The UHS has set up 20 test centres in 12 cities including Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Hassan Abdal, Gujrat, Gujranwala and DG Khan.
The test shall begin at 9am, but the UHS has advised candidates to reach their centres at least one hour early, as the centres would be sealed at 8.15am. The two-and-a-half-hour test consists of 220 multiple choice questions in physics (44 questions), chemistry (58), English (30) and biology (88), a UHS spokesman said. After the main test, candidates will get half an hour for a separate aptitude test and feedback form, which will have no weight in the entrance test score.
The test will be marked out of a total score of 1100, with each correct answer worth five marks and each incorrect answer resulting in a one mark deduction.
Briefing reporters, UHS Vice Chancellor Prof Muhammad Aslam said that the Punjab government had made arrangements for the smooth conduct of the test. The district administrations, under the supervision of divisional commissioners and district coordination officers, had finalised security and logistic plans at their test centres, he said.
DPOs will be responsible for security and would ensure extensive patrolling and proper sweeping of the area before the start of the test, said the vice chancellor. Walkthrough gates and mobile jammers will be installed at each centre. No unauthorised person will be allowed to enter the exam centres.
Traffic police will arrange for parking and ensure smooth flow of traffic near the exam centres, he said, adding that measures had been taken for dengue control at all the centres.
Prof Aslam said parents and others will be provided waiting areas, with drinking water and toilet facilities, near the exam centres. Candidates sitting the test will get juice packets from the UHS.
Emergency healthcare will be available at all centres in the form of an ambulance, doctors and paramedics. The nearest teaching hospital or district headquarters hospital will be put on high alert to ensure a state of readiness, he added.
Candidates are not allowed to bring mobile phones, calculators, laptops or notes to the exam centres. No candidate will be allowed to enter the centre without an admittance card issued by UHS.
The test centres in Lahore are at the examination halls of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education on Lawrence Road; the Punjab University examination halls on Wahdat Road; the Government Comprehensive Girls High School on Wahdat Road; and the Government Pilot High School on Wahdat Road. Around 12,000 candidates (3,800 male and 8,200 female) are to sit the test in the city.
According to Pakistan Medical and Dental Council regulations, anyone seeking admission to a medical or dental college in the Punjab, whether public or private, must sit the UHS entrance test.
Each candidate’s final merit score is calculated through a formula giving 50 per cent weight to her entrance test score, 40 per cent to her intermediate score, and 10 per cent to her matric score.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2013.
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