LAHORE: As many as 83,142 candidates, including 52,874 females and 30,268 males, appeared in the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT), which was conducted by the University of Health Sciences (UHS) on Sunday.

The test was held at 25 centers in Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur, and DG Khan.

The UHS had engaged the services of 5,820 school/ college teachers to perform duties as supervisory and invigilation staff to conduct the test. The Section 144 was imposed to prevent the entry of unauthorised persons to the centres.

A large number of police personnel were deployed for security while CCTV cameras, mobile phone jammers and walk-through gates were installed at major centers. For the biometric verification of candidates, NADRA mobile units were available.

In Lahore, 18,876 female and 9,487 male candidates appeared in the test at the Expo Centre Johar Town, BISE examination halls, Lawrence Road, Punjab University, Divisional Public School, Model Town, Kinnaird College, University of Education and Lahore College for Women University.

Secretary Specialized Healthcare Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi and UHS VC Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore visited centers to monitor the arrangements.

In Multan, 17,918 candidates appeared in the test. The number of candidates in Bahawalpur was 6,624, Faisalabad 12,106, Gujranwala 6,985, Sialkot 3,692, Sahiwal 4,118, and it was 3,336 in DG Khan.

Talking to the media at Expo Centre along with the officials of the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) and Punjab Health Department, UHS VC, Ahsan Waheed Rathore, said that the conduct of MDCAT was important as it would ensure merit and justice.

He added that new standard operating procedures (SOPs) were developed and fresh multi-tiered security measures were taken for the test.

Later in the evening, the UHS uploaded the answer key to the question paper on the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) website. With the help of this key, candidates can calculate their scores themselves. The official result will be declared within a week.

There shall be centralised admissions in both public colleges as per the PMC Admission Regulations 2022-23.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2022