Be prepared: Medical colleges entrance test on Sunday

The test will be given at 34 centres in 13 cities

LAHORE: More than 47,000 candidates, 31,000 female and 16,000 male, will appear in the Punjab Medical and Dental Colleges (PMDC) entrance test on Sunday (August 30).

The government has finalised arrangements for the test to be given by the University of Health Sciences (UHS). It has appointed senior bureaucrats, including secretaries, divisional commissioners and Board of Revenue (BoR) members as monitoring officers; senior medical teachers will supervise the test.

The DCOs will act as focal persons looking after the arrangements.

The test will be given simultaneously at 34 centres in 13 cities: Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Sargodha, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Dera Ghazi Khan and Hasanabdal.

The candidates have been asked to reach test centres at least one hour before the scheduled start at 9am. No candidate will be allowed to enter a test centre after 8:15am.

In Lahore, six test centres have been established for nearly 14,500 candidates at examination halls of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education at Lawrence Road; examination halls of the Punjab University at Wahdat Road; the Government Comprehensive Girls High School at Wahdat Road; the University of Education, Township; the Lahore College for Women University at Jail Road; and the Government Central Model School at Lower Mall.

The test will consist of 220 multiple choice questions (MCQs) divided into four sections, namely physics (44 MCQs), chemistry (58 MCQs), English (30 MCQs) and biology (88 MCQs). Duration of the test will be two-and-a-half hours.

One mark will be deducted for each incorrect answer and five marks will be awarded for each correct answer.

UHS Vice Chancellor Muhammad Aslam said the government had made elaborate arrangements for the test. He said district police officers would be responsible for providing security at the test centres. Walkthrough gates and mobile jammers would be installed at each centre, Aslam said. Unauthorised persons would not be allowed to enter the premises under Section 144 of the Pakistan Penal Code, the vice chancellor said.

He said seating arrangements had also been made for guardians accompanying the candidates to test centres. Traffic police have assured of their cooperation for ensuring a smooth flow of traffic near examination centres, he said. Emergency healthcare services will be available at all centres.

Hospitals close to test centres would be on high alert during the test, Aslam said. He said power distribution companies had been requested to ensure uninterrupted supply at all centres.

Candidates are not allowed to take cell phones, calculators, laptops or notes to the examination centres. They will not be allowed to enter the centre without the admittance card issued by the UHS.

This year, candidates are competing for 3,405 MBBS seats in 17 public sector medical colleges and 216 BDS seats in three public dental colleges. Nearly 3,000 MBBS seats are available at 28 private medical colleges and 700 BDS seats at 12 private dental colleges in the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2015.