ISLAMABAD: Pakistani students intending to go abroad for medical or dental education will no longer be required to have passed the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT), the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) announced on Monday.

In a notice shared on X, the PMDC said the decision was taken at its meeting held on Sept 14.

During the meeting, the council “decided to exempt the mandatory requirement of having passed the MDCAT at a prerequisite for Pakistani students seeking admission into foreign medical and dental institutions,” the notice said.

The PMDC notice did not elaborate on the reasons behind the decision.

However, PMDC President Dr Rizwan Taj told Dawn that a parliamentary committee had recommended that students intending to go and study abroad should not be compelled to clear MDCAT.

The Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services has been discussing the matter, and it had highlighted the discrepancy in PMDC’s policy requiring MDCAT for students seeking admission to foreign medical institutions during its meeting on Sept 15. It recommended stronger regulation of substandard foreign medical institutions, including the preparation and public disclosure of a list of institutions that do not meet prescribed standards.

In a June meeting, the Sub-Committee of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination had also taken up the advertisement issued by the PMDC, which made MDCAT mandatory for students seeking admission to MBBS programmes abroad. Members had questioned the legality of the directive and expressed concern over what they termed an arbitrary policy decision lacking clear statutory backing.

While PMDC officials had explained that the move was intended to discourage admissions in substandard foreign medical institutions, the committee members had questioned how MDCAT would stop admission in substandard colleges.

The committee had maintained that imposing MDCAT test as criteria for seeking admission in foreign institutions without an explicit legal mandate required further deliberation.

The committee had suggested that the PMDC should publish a list of foreign medical colleges and universities that do not meet recognised standards rather than imposing blanket restrictions to better guide students and parents.

After the PMDC’s decision to abolish the restriction, an official from the council told Dawn that while students pursuing education abroad had been exempted from clearing MDCAT, any student seeking transfer to a university back in Pakistan midway through the studies would be required to clear the National Examination Board (NEB) assessment.

The official also said that students who willing to practice in Pakistan after completing their studies abroad would also be required to pass the registration exam for foreign medical graduates.

NEB is conducted by the PMDC twice a year for those medical graduates who have passed their exams from abroad. The exam is held to assess the knowledge, clinical skills, and professional competence of students who have partially completed medical or dental education abroad and seek transfer to/ admission in Pakistan.

Moreover, graduates of foreign universities have to appear in a registration exam to get a license to begin house job and practice in Pakistan.