LAHORE: A-level students planning a career in medicine suffered a major blow to their future as the new regulations of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) have declared them ineligible for admissions to MBBS/BDS programmes at public and private medical and dental colleges of the country on foreign quota.

The issue surfaced in a recent meeting of the PMDC wherein it was informed that its regulations introduced in Oct 2016 had now been notified, declaring A level students ineligible to join the medical profession.

An official privy to the development told Dawn that the PMDC meeting presided over by federal minister Saira Afzal Tarrar declared that Pakistani A level students would not be able to get admissions against foreign seats to any private medical college.

“No candidate shall be eligible for foreign quota seats in public and private medical and dental institutions under sub-regulations (1) and (2) unless he holds a permanent foreign nationality or dual nationality or overseas Pakistani students and who have physically studied and passed secondary certificate (SSC) and HSSC passing 12th grade examination or equivalent from outside Pakistan during his stay abroad and having a certificate from the institution last attended to this effect,” the official said, quoting the regulations.

New PMDC law bars such students from applying on foreign quota

He said earlier the students with A level qualifications were getting admission to private medical and dental institutions in Pakistan under the 2013 PMDC Regulations according to which “Pakistani national student who has passed an examination equivalent to intermediate level of Pakistan from a foreign university or examining body or foreign education system with three subjects out of which biology and chemistry are essential subjects shall be eligible to appear in the entry test for admission to MBBS/BDS”.

The official said thousands of students passed A level exams every year from English-medium schools across the country. Many of them appeared for MBBS/BDS programmes.

Out of the 41,677 students who had applied for admission to private medical and dental institutions in 2013-14, 7.2 per cent – or 2,981 -- fell under the non-FSc qualification category.

In 2014-15, this ratio dropped to 6.7pc, he said, adding that in 2016 the new PMDC regulations inflicted a major dent to the futures of A level students by imposing a complete ban on their applications.

He said the entry test for admissions to MBBS/BDS programmes would be conducted this month and the situation had landed A level students and their parents in utter frustration.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2017