PMC rejects Dr Azra's statement

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), the country's regulatory body for medical and dental education, had expressed displeasure with the Sindh government's decision to lower the minimum pass rate for admission to MBBS/BDS courses in the province, claiming that the move is intended to benefit affluent candidates at the expense of merit and lowering educational quality.

According to a PMC spokesman, passing the MDCAT according to the regulator's standards is required for admission to the public and private medical and dental institutions across the nation. The Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court had both ruled in support of it.

Further, it was stated that only the National Medical and Dental Academic Board and the Medical and Dental Council had sole jurisdiction to decide and set the standard and passing marks for MDCAT under Section 13(c) and Section 18(1) of the PMC Act, 2020.

The spokesman of PMC further claimed that no other institution or body would be authorized to change or modify the MDCAT standard or passing marks in Pakistan. Any admitted student who does not fulfil the qualifying requirements would not be registered with PMC and would not be awarded a licence to practice in the country.

According to a PMC spokesman, allowing admission to unworthy candidates would violate nearly 68,000 students' entitlement to merit-based admission to medical and dentistry universities in Pakistan.