Daily Times

PM&DC held its first National Medical & Dental Academic Board meeting today at its head office. The 21-member National Medical and Dental Academic Board (NMDAB) was notified by the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) on July 14, 2023, to oversee the policy to maintain quality of education in undergraduate and post-graduate medical and dental institutions across Pakistan.

The Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PM&DC) being the sole healthcare education regulator in Pakistan, aiming to improve healthcare delivery and education standards, sets excellence standards and implements them in all medical and dental institutes for undergraduate and postgraduate education. The Board primarily functions are to frame Medical & Dental undergraduate Accreditation standards, including curriculum, standards of medical Education / CME / CPD, academic standards of foreign institutions and examination standards, including the MDCAT, National Registration Examination and National Equivalence Board Examination.

It is pertinent to mention that since the Academic Board was not constituted, PM&DC adopted the policies framed by the previous academic board in the broader interest of the students and doctors, which included the MDCAT/ NRE and NEB examinations. The Academic Board has unanimously approved the National Medical and Dental curriculum for this year 2023 to 2024, and it will be reviewed. The Academic Board unanimously has decided to constitute committees to review all the Regulations and matters referred to the Board entrusted under Section 13 of PM&DC Act 2022.

Chairman HEC and President CPSP extended their full cooperation and assistance with the PM&DC Council to achieve quality of medical education in Pakistan to further upgrade the standards across the world. The Academic Board will formulate the first ever criteria, regulations and proforma for CME/CPD which will help to reinvigorate our doctors. CPSP has also ensured full support to assist and share measures taken this regard at their end. The Committee will also devise CME/ CPD credit hours for general and specialist medical/ dental practitioners which further renewal of their PM&DC licenses.

The efforts of President PM&DC Prof. Dr. Rizwan Taj along with its team were appreciated for taking significant step towards international recognition by applying to the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) for its accreditation program in due time along with organizing workshops to improve relations with medical and dental colleges for recognition of WFME. The Academic Board is constituted with highly qualified professionals from all provinces of Pakistan, known nationally and internationally. The 21-member board will serve a four-year term in terms of section 11 of PM&DC Act 22. The meeting was presided by the Chairman Academic Board Prof.Dr.Zahid Aman Dean Khyber girls medical college Peshawar . Dr. Syed Azhar Ali Shah assisted the August forum as Secretary to the

Board. The meeting was attended by all the respectable members of the Academic Board who participated in the meeting. Dr.Mukhtar Ahmed (Chairman Higher Education Commission), Prof.Dr.khalid Masood Gondal (President College of Physician and Surgeon), Maj.Gen.Muhammad Suhail Amin (Principal Army Medical College Rawalpindi), Prof.Dr.Muhammad Umar (Vice chancellor Rawalpindi Medical University), Prof.Dr.Imran Hassan Khan (Principal Sahiwal Medical College Sahiwal), Prof.Dr.Ayesha Shaukat (Principal Continental Medical College Lahore), Prof.Dr.waheed ul Hameed (Principal de’Montmorency College of Dentistry Lahore), Prof.Dr.Waqar Hussain (Principal Bakhtawar Amin Medical & Dental College Multan) , Prof.Dr.Saba Sohail (Principal Dow Medical College Karachi) Prof.Dr.Arshad Abro (Professor of Surgery Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences Jamshoro, Prof.Dr.Rizwan Khan (Associate Dean of postgraduate medical education at the Aga Khan University Karachi), Dr.Permanand (Principal Bhitai Dental & Medical College Mirpurkhas), Prof.Dr.Zia ul Haq (Vice Chancellor Khyber Medical University Peshawar), Prof.Dr.Syed Nasir Shah (Dean Khyber College of Dentistry Peshawar), Dr.Zia ul Islam (Dean Mardan Medical College Mardan), Prof.Dr.Ghulam Rasool (Principal Rehman Medical College of Dentistry Peshawar), Prof.Dr.Shamsullah Bazai (HOD Ophthalmology Bolan Medical College Quetta), Prof.Dr.Hanif Mengal (HOD Pathology Bolan Medical College Quetta), Prof.Dr.Rukhsana Majid (HOD Community Medicine QIMS Quetta), Prof.Dr.Syed Abdulah Rauf Shah (HOD Oral and Maxilla-facial Bolan Medical College Quetta).