KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: A day after Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) announced the results of the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) 2022, dozens of students staged a protest outside the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) accusing the institution of adding out-of-syllabus question in the exam, depriving aspiring students of pursuing their ambition.

A large number of students, carrying placards and banners, chanted slogans and demanded a re-test.

They claimed the examination paper for students in Sindh, which was prepared by the DUHS, carried several questions which were not part of their syllabus, unlike papers in other parts of the country.

They also accused the DUHS management of being insensitive towards the students’ concerns.

Commission opens rechecking of exam papers, students can apply until Nov 27

The protests, which largely remained peaceful, resulted in a tense situation as students tried to enter the DUHS premises, forcing the security to shut doors.

The situation further intensified when senior politician Dr Farooq Sattar joined the protesters and entered the university with other students by scaling walls.

The protest finally ended after Dr Sattar’s talks with the DUHS administration.

Addressing the protesters, Dr Sattar said the PMC through DUHS had as­­sured that a committee would look into the matter and all the answer sheets would be rechecked within a week.

“I have talked to the students and they have told me that there were 35 out of syllabus questions in the test,” he said, adding it was unfair and unjustified.

PMC opens rechecking

The PMC has said that the rechecking for MDCAT-2022 has started and will continue for five days.

Students have been advised to apply and get their papers rechecked by Nov 27.

“Students are directed to visit the website of their respective exam-conducting university to apply for rechecking,” the PMC stated.

In case of any errors or omissions in the results, the students have been asked to contact the university concerned.

On Wednesday, the commission uploaded the MDCAT results on its official website.

MDCAT is an aptitude exam, mandatory for aspiring doctors to clear to get admission in medical and dental colleges. This year, the test was conducted on Nov 13 across the country and also in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2022