PMDC urged to register 3,000 CPSP specialist doctors

KARACHI- Over 3000 graduates of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) remain jobless since they could not get their registration from the PMDC. A senate standing committee has been informed and urged to expedite their registrations.

According to media reports, the members were informed that after the 18th Amendment, it had become mandatory for the graduates to get themselves registered with the PMDC. But the council had been refusing to register them.

A parliamentary panel recommended the government to immediately register over 3,000 specialist doctors of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) to save their future.

The Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Co-ordination (NHSR&C) which met with Abdul Haseeb Khan in the chair also constituted a committee to be headed by the Director General of Health to propose recommendations in the rules with all stakeholders for bringing amendments to the law about PMDC. The recommendations would be tabled in the House after finalisation.

Professor Mumtaz Ali Marwat and Professor Shoaib Shafi accused the PMDC for alleged encroachment in the area of College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) by stopping registration of specialists' doctors. Representing the CPSP, they said that it was a degree awarding body and has been recognized as such ever since its inception. The college is an entirely autonomous and fully self-financed body. The degrees, FCPS & MCPS, are fully registered with the PMDC ever since they started; however, the PMDC has been refusing registration on flimsy grounds. In spite of several representations, they have continued to violate the law. CPSP representatives requested the parliamentary panel to ensure that the PMDC should register the CPSP postgraduates, so as not to adversely affect their career.

State Minister for NHSR&C Saira Afzal Tarar said that; the 18th constitutional amendment was made in haste, especially for education and health which resulted in problems, as it was made without capacity building of the provinces. She said that provinces wanted authority but not ready to take responsibility or ownership for problems. The polio campaign was postponed several times in Karachi due to security concerns; however, situations would improve soon. Director General of Health Asad Hafeez said that the issue between the PMDC and the CPSP cropped up after the amendment in rules in 2012 and proposed the committee to bring new amendment to end the tussle.