News Detail
Event Title: Senator Anusha Rahman Ahmed Khan, Convener Sub-Committee of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, presiding over a meeting of The Sub-Committee at Parliament House Islamabad
Event Date: 2026-07-25
The Sub-Committee of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination met today under the convenorship of Senator Anusha Rahman to evaluate the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council's MDCAT exam and review the national policy framework for students
The meeting was attended by Senator Agha Shahzaib Durrani along with senior officials from the Ministry of Health and the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council.
During the proceedings, the PM&DC officials informed the committee that a consensual syllabus covering common areas between FSc and A-Levels was finalized, which resulted in fewer syllabus-related complaints last year. To verify these claims, the Convenor directed the PM&DC to submit comprehensive feedback on the question bank and stakeholder consultation process.
PM&DC explained that MCQ-based tests are global standards for content validity assessment. The committee urged relevant authorities to revamp national educational programz and align them with international best practices.
The committee directed to correct the newspaper advertisement mandating compulsory MDCAT for foreign medical admissions- which is not the policy of governement. It was clarified by officials that MDCAT is mandatory for only specific foreign universities rather than all institutions. The committee asked to see the approvee policy which manadated such a requirement and if this was a policy of federal governement or only of PMDC, to which no clear response was given by officials. The committee inquired if any action taken against deliquent officer responsible for publication of an incorrect advertisement misleading students to compulsarioly appear for MDCAT even if applying to foreign universities. The committee directed to issue clarification to be printed on the front pages of national newspapers at the earliest to avoid unnecessary burden on students. The committee asked why a simple registration with PMDC be made a requirement for outgoing students, if the intent of PMDC is to discourage students to study in sub standard medical colleges overseas instead of mandating MDCAT. In order to stop students from studing in sub standared overseas medical colleges maintained in red list by PMDC, when student registers and informs of joining a medical college in red list , the student could be immediately guided and discouraged from proceeding, manadting MDCAT for this purpose makes no sense.
Furthermore, the sub-committee highlighted the plight of bright students who clear the MDCAT test and pass admission criteria but fail to secure admission due to limited medical seats. For example, from over 168,000 students appearing in MDCAT in 2024, more than 113000 passed and were qualified to become doctors, however, therr were only 22300 medical seats on which these studenr could be adjusted. The committee inquired if based on data if PMDC ever made proposal to the govenment to bridge this wide gap between demand and supply of medical seats, whilst also considering that pakistani doctors are well respected globally, yet there is no proposal to increase the supply chain to also cater for domestic and international demand for doctors. Highlighting the need to utilize this youth potential, the committee directed the PM&DC to formulate concrete proposals, including increasing the number of seats in private sector through public private partnership models, scholarships programs, and educational loan schemes to accommodate these students aspiring to become doctors but either lack resources or lack placements. The committee also directed to submit recommendations based on last 5 years data of MDCAT, and international demand for doctors in this regard, so that these may be included in sub- committee report that will be submitted to the main committee