Private medical colleges: Pakistanis can now apply to seats reserved for foreigners

Students who have completed A-levels or High School from Pakistan <br /> can apply to these seats.

LAHORE:

Pakistani nationals who have passed intermediate-level examinations from a foreign university or examining body are eligible to apply for admission to medical colleges on self-finance seats reserved for foreign nationals, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has announced.

This rule has been added to the PMDC Admission in MBBS/BDC Courses and Conditions for House Job Regulations, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune. The rule will be applicable from the current session, 2014.

Previously, only foreigners could apply for admission to self-finance seats reserved for foreign students.

Pakistani students applying to these seats should have studied a minimum of three subjects, two of which are biology and chemistry.  Students should also have an SAT II score equal to or more than 550 in three subjects: biology and chemistry, the third could be a science or humanities subject.

A Health Department official requesting anonymity told The Express Tribune that this was done to facilitate A-level students and private medical colleges.

He said the criterion for self-finance seats at public medical colleges is very strict. There are 76 seats reserved for foreign students in public medical colleges in the Punjab. They must be foreign nationals.

He said 15 per cent of the seats in private medical colleges were reserved for foreign students. There are 3,050 seats for MBBS and 28 seats for BDS in 28 private medical and 12 dental colleges in the Punjab. He said the number of seats for foreign nationals was 458 in MBBS and five in BDS seats. “These seats usually remained vacant as not many foreigners apply to private medical colleges in Pakistan.”

He said the new rule allowed Pakistani students who had completed their A-levels or American High School while living in Pakistan would now be eligible to get admission against those seats.

The official said they needed to obtain at least 60 per cent marks in their intermediate level exams.

The annual fee for foreign students at private medical colleges is between $16,000 and $18,000, he said.

The principal of a medical college in Lahore said the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council was the country’s regulatory body for medical education. It should take decisions which improve medical education standards and merit rather than looking for ways to facilitate students who could not qualify on merit.

He said there was a time when private medical colleges used to take donations in lieu of admissions from students. “In a way, this rule encourages that.”

The PMDC declined comment on the issue. A PMDC official said that the PMDC registrar was on an ex-Pakistan leave and in his absence nobody was authorised to comment on the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2014.