THOUSANDS of students, supported by their families, dream of becoming a doctor. Naturally, it takes some doing. One either has to pass competitive entrance examination or dish out millions to some private medical institution. But the biggest crowd is of those who do not fall in either of these categories.

Cashing in on the misplaced passion of this category, almost all private universities, and even some in the public sector, have for years offered dubious alternatives in the shape of diploma and degree programmes in the field of physical therapy, optometry, radiology, nutrition and dermatology, to name a few. These programmes are actually allied health programmes meant to provide technical assistance to doctors.

How would people in their right mind study optometry, which is but one aspect of the larger umbrella of medical sciences, and call themselves ophthalmologists?

There is already too much saturation in the medical field, and there are hardly any job or residency oppor-tunity for medical graduates. Being a consultant in any specialty, sub-specialty or supra-specialty requires one to

have a post-graduation which requires five to six years of intensive grinding after (repeat, after) one has already become a doctor.

These so-called ‘doctors’ coming from the superficial diploma’s route are only going to wreak havoc on the sacred field of medicine and succumb to quackery. Hundreds of thousands of such quacks are being produced and their ‘services’ will be available in the market in a few years.

All of this is going to be a burden on provincial healthcare commissions that are supposed to maintain healthcare standards, and to end quackery in the country. This is, beyond doubt, a critical issue which for some strange reason is not being discussed in the healthcare sector despite the severity of the matter.

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) seem to be asleep. And, lest it be misunderstood, being asleep is the best-case scenario.

Dr Hasan Abdul Rehman
Gojra

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2023