Daily Times

LAHORE: Due to the indifferent attitude of the government towards the medical graduate from foreign countries, these students had no future after returning to their homeland.

Almost 3,000 students passed their medical degrees from China, Russia, Cuba, Ukraine and other states. However, due to the defective policies of Pakistan Medical and dental council (PMDC), these foreign qualified students have faced with an uncertain future.

According to the PMDC rules, all such graduates on return have to pass through the exam conducted by national examination board (NEB). The PMDC rules stated that the exam has to be conducted twice a year. However, during the last four years, it has only been held once.

The main reason for not conducting the exam at regular intervals is the PMDC’s negligence. The administrations of various universities have their own justification of `busy schedules’. Their non-cooperation with the PMDC in this regard has caused numerous problems for these medical graduates.

In the rest of the world, examinations to issue licenses to medical profession are conduct on weekly basis. However, the exam has not been held for the past three years.

The doctors have demand that the PMDC stop depending on other universities for conducting the exam.

“It should conduct the exam itself. This examination should be taken at least four times a year. Like all other examinations in Pakistan, advance schedule of this examination should be issued at the beginning of every year,” they said.

To ensure fair and transparent examination, a set procedure should be adopted, they said.

Foreign degree holders Asif Ali from Russia, Mirza Ashfaq from China, Asif Azad from Ukrainian, Sikandar Salhi from China, Javed Iqbal from Russia and Sikandar Rana from Australia said that they had been waiting for the exam to be held.

They demanded for issuance of HEC-approved graduate equity certificates to enable them to continue their higher education in Pakistan other than medical profession. They said that three thousand families were forced to send their children abroad as they could not pay the high fees of private medical colleges. “Even after passing the foreign medical exams, they have no future in their homeland,” they said.

The foreign medical graduates demanded appealed to the PM and the chief justice to take notice of their demands to secure their future.

When contacted, PMDC President Dr Shabir admitted that the students were being examined once a year. “It is only due to non-cooperation of various medical colleges. The PMDC had to make a number of requests to various medical colleges because of which it was not possible to take two exams in one calendar year,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, January 9^th 2017.