Medical tribunals set up to dispose of hundreds of petitions
Zubair Qureshi
Only days before lapse of the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council Ordinance 2019, the council president Dr Tariq Iqbal Bhutta along with his cabinet held a news conference on Saturday at the PMDC headquarters and shared some of the achievements with media in his tenure.
Dr Bhutta said the council had initiated a gigantic task of inspecting all media and dental colleges in the public and private sector and special teams were constituted for the purpose. The work is almost done and a final report will be shared with media in next few days.
Council President also shared with the media registration of the Pakistani doctors who have completed their degrees from other countries. Each year, around 1,000 such doctors from abroad appear in the equivalence exams (NEB examination) and PMDC holds that exam and the turnout is around 30pc to 40pc.
Dr Bhutta also spoke at length on Saudi Arabian government’s refusal to recognize Pakistani doctors’ MD and MS degrees and expulsion of some 4,000 such doctors from the holy land.
“Not all doctors with these degrees were expelled,” said Dr Bhutta adding it is only because of a few doctors that the Saudi government had to take that action. “Still our MD and MS degrees have great worth and recognition,” said the president of the council.
He said the council had faced several issues and challenges, in the recent pas and there was a need for reforms to streamline the affairs of organization.
The reforms’ objective is to make PMDC a highly effective and vibrant regulatory institution of Pakistan which is capable to implement best standards and regulations for promotion of medical and dental education in the country, at par with international requirements.
To a question about the inspection criteria, the president said the institutions which do not have the minimum standards will be closed down as otherwise the standards of MBBS BDS will lose its international recognition.
Dr Bhutta also said the PMDC office was being put online and all its sections and regional offices have been interconnected through Internet.
The president said in his tenure admission regulations 2018have been revised and Admission Policy for Session 2019 -20 has been announced to ensure transparency and merit in the admission process.
The council has ordered external financial audit of the PMDC operations from July 2011 onwards.
The PM&DC has conducted NEB Step I Exam through National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) Rawalpindi on 23rd June 2019 and 2497 candidates appeared and the pass percentage remained up to 34pc. NUMS Rawalpindi conducted NEB Step II on 28th July 2019 and 1,231 candidates appeared in exam and up to 66% passed the exam.
On pending litigation, he said it has been fast tracked for a higher rate of disposal to remove bottlenecks in the system and allow for students and doctors to have their grievances addressed and their outstanding issues resolved. Linkages with national institutions like CPSP and Higher Education Commission are strengthened. The Council has disposed of over 110 complaints of medical negligence / professional misconduct and PM&DC registration of at least 30 doctors has been suspended / cancelled.
