As many as 65,670 candidates including 41,681 females and 23,989 males appeared for the Medical & Dental Colleges’ Admission Test (MDCAT) which was conducted by the University of Health Sciences (UHS) on Sunday. The test started at 10am in 28 centres set up in Lahore, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Gujrat, Gujranwala Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Rawalpindi, Sialkot and Hassan Abdal. Candidates started reaching their centres as early as 6am. More than 5,500 invigilators and supervisory staff performed duties at these centres which were sealed by 9:15am. A large number of police personnel were deployed at the centres to prevent any disruption of the examination. Ambulances and fire brigades were also made available at the centres to counter any untoward incident. Besides, close circuit television cameras, mobile phone jammers and walk-through gates were installed at major centres. Body search of the candidates was also conducted. There were proper arrangements for the disabled students as well as parking and waiting area facilities for the parents of the candidates. Back-up power generators were also provided at some of the centres. In Lahore, a total of 12,068 females and 6,350 male candidates appeared in the test at the Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education examination halls at Lawrence Road, Punjab University, Government Comprehensive Girls High School, Divisional Public School, Government Postgraduate College for Women, University of Engineering & Technology and Lahore College for Women University. UHS Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Javed Akram and Deputy Commissioner Lahore Anwarul Haq visited various centres and monitored the arrangements. In Rawalpindi, 7,874 candidates appeared in the test. The number of candidates in Multan was 10,148, Faisalabad 6,614, Gujranwala 3,623, Bahawalpur 3,356, Sargodha 2,803, Sahiwal 3,747, Gujrat 1,767, DG Khan 2,673, Rahim Yar Khan 1,758, Hassan Abdal 824 and in Sialkot 2,065 candidates appeared in the test. Talking to the media persons at PU, UHS VC Professor Dr Javed Akram said that the conduct of MDCAT was important as it would ensure merit and justice. “We are aware of the hardship and agony these candidates and their parents have faced yet to ensure justice and fair play,” he said. He added that new standard operating procedures were developed and fresh multi-tiered security measures were taken for each and every step of preparation, printing, packaging and transportation of MDCAT paper. UHS vice chancellor said that medical and dental colleges have always challenged the brightest and best-prepared minds. He added that admissions were constantly becoming more competitive. “MDCAT results are extremely important. They carry 50 percent weightage in merit as per the formula of Pakistan Medical & Dental Council. They are proof that the candidate can handle the academic rigorus of medical or dental college,” the VC opined. Later in the evening, UHS uploaded the answer key to the question paper on its website. With the help of this key, candidates can calculate their scores themselves. The official result will be declared in a week or so after which the admission schedule will be announced. Published in Daily Times, September 24th 2018.