PMA shows concern over sacking Pakistani doctors

KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association recently expressed grave concern over the news of Pakistani doctors with MS and MD degrees being sacked in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.

A joint meeting of the PMA Centre and the PMA Karachi, was held at the PMA House, Karachi, to discuss the news published in the press two days back under the heading, “Pakistani doctors with MS and MD degree sacked in Saudi Arabia”.

Senior members including Dr S Tipu Sultan, Dr S M Qaisar Sajjad, Dr Qazi M Wasiq, Dr Mirza Ali Azhar, Dr Khalil Mukaddam, Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, Dr Sarwar Jamil, and Dr Hamid Manzoor attended this meeting.

The participants of the meeting expressed serious concern over the news that Pakistani doctors with MS and MD Degrees have been sacked in Saudi Arabia. Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have also taken a similar step. They blamed that the MS and MD degree program of Pakistan lacks mandatory training.

Pakistan’s university degree qualification is a structured training program. The PMDC has declared it a five-year level-III research and clinical qualification. Its curriculum is based on both clinical and research components as per international standards. Moreover, it has a long history of imparting medical education.

The PMA stands with the doctors who were terminated from their services in Saudi Arabia. We believe that there is always a need to pace with modern teaching and training skills if there is lacking in any way that can be improved. It is unfair, however, to degrade this reputed program and terminate the contracts of thousands of Pakistani doctors formerly working in Arab countries. This will be a huge economic problem for sacked doctors and their families.

They appealed to the Government of Pakistan, the Foreign Ministry, and the Federal Health Ministry to chalk out some strategy and approach the Government of Saudi Arabia to reinstate all the sacked doctors.