PPSC suspends PMDC registration requirement

LAHORE : Owing to the long conflict prevailing between The Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) and the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) over the “Unnecessary Delays” in the registration of 750 FCPS/MCPS doctors, the PPSC has finally decided, in principle, to conduct interviews of all post graduate doctors who have cleared exams for the Fellow of College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS) or Member of College of Physicians and Surgeons (MCPS) and want to apply for the post of senior registrar. The requirement for a candidates registration with the PMDC has been suspended till the resolution of the argument between the PPSC and PMDC.

According to some recent media reports; The PPSC Chairman’s Representative Shaigan Sharif Malik held a meeting with a delegation of the Young Doctors Association Punjab recently and told them that they would allow doctors, who had passed FCPS/MCPS but had not been registered with the PMDC, to sit the interviews. However, they would have to submit their PMDC registration number before joining the Health Department. The delegation included YDA president Dr Ajmal Chaudhary, Dr Amir Bandesha and Dr Altamesh.

Dr Shabbir Chaudhry, a member of the YDA delegation, have stated in the media that; the PPSC had also decided to interview doctors who had been previously rejected, because they did not have a PMDC registration number. “We are thankful that the PPSC has accepted our demands. Several doctors had been rejected for the post over the last few days simply because they hadn’t been registered by the PMDC,” he said.

The Punjab Public Service Commission is currently interviewing doctors for posts of senior registrar. The eligibility criteria for the post include specialization in the faculty the doctors apply in. As many as 750 consultants who passed their Fellow of College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS) exams between 2012 and 2013 were not being considered for the posts because the PMDC had de-recognized the institutes they had trained at.

After the PMDC Act was passed in 2012, the council de-recognized several training institutions of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSP). Those who had completed their training at these institutions were hence not registered by the PMDC. The PPSC had turned down more than 70 doctors for the interview round because they did not have a PMDC registration number.

An official of the PPSC said that they had decided to facilitate doctors who had passed their specialization exams and only needed to obtain their registration numbers. “It will be mandatory for them to get their registration numbers before joining the Health Department. We allowed the relaxation after receiving instructions from the Health Department in this regard.”

The YDA had also written to the PPSC chairman on the issue. The letter said that the PMDC registrar had denied registration to FCPS and MCPS graduates because of a bias against doctors in the Punjab. The YDA also alleged nepotism, lawlessness and deterioration of profession in the PMDC elections.

It said that doctors had protested the “illegal tenancy of PMDC Registrar Raja Amjad”. It said that the CPSP council had also refused to be part of Dr Asim Hussain’s “illegal council” and “now they are victimising fellows of the college”.

The letter said that the PMDC was registering FSCPS qualifications whimsically and in violation of law. “Some blue-eyed doctors are being registered while others qualifying from same institute are denied registration.”

The letter says that the PMDC lacks a council and Raja Amjad Mehmood, the register, had no right to deny registration to FCPS diploma holders. “It is unfortunate that substandard degrees obtained from foreign institutes are registered with the PMDC while prestigious local qualifications are being denied the same.”  The letter requested that all doctors holding FCPS /MCPS qualification but lacked registration from PMDC, be allowed to appear for interviews and selection on merit. PMDC Registrar Dr Raja Amjad Mahmood denied the allegations and said that he was legally appointed registrar of the council. He said there was no nepotism at the PMDC. “Section 16 of the PMDC Act 2012, empowers the PMDC to inspect medical training institutes in the country. We canceled the affiliation of several institutes after that and asked them to get themselves re-recognized after PMDC inspection. The CPSP was also ordered by the Supreme Court to get their training institutes re-inspected but they didn’t do so.”