LAHORE: At least 3000 foreign qualified medical students are suffering due to the ‘discriminatory’ policies of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC). According to the PMDC rules, all medical graduates who did their degrees abroad, on return, have to pass a national examination board’s (NEB) exam, which is conducted twice a year. But during last four years, the council has held this exam only once. Almost 3000 graduates, who returned to Pakistan after completing their degrees, have not been able to practice their profession without passing the said exam. In rest of the world, examination for the issuance of licenses to medical graduates is conducted on a weekly basis, but in Pakistan the exam has not been held even in three years, complained the graduates. PMDC President Dr Shabir accepted the claim that students were being examined once a year and said: “It was only due to non-cooperation of different medical colleges.” However, the graduates said that the main reason why the test is not conducted on time is PMDC’s irresponsibility. They also blamed the medical universities in Pakistan for not cooperating with the PMDC. They asked PMDC not to depend on other universities saying the council should conduct the exam “itself”. “The exam must be taken at least four times a year,” said the graduates, demanding an advance schedule be released at the beginning of every year. Talking to Daily Times, The graduates said three thousand families were forced to send their children abroad as they could not pay the high fees of private medical colleges but still they had no future in their homeland. The graduates urged the government to accept their demands immediately.