Only eighteen medical colleges recognised

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Only 18 medical colleges are recognised by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Colleges (PMDC).

PMDC documents show that 34 medical colleges in the four provinces are provisionally recognised. There is no recognised medical college in Islamabad.

Senior officials told Daily Times that several unauthorised medical colleges were playing with the futures of thousands of students. They explained that for provisional recognition a medical college must fulfil certain conditions within a stipulated time period. Degrees from unrecognised medical colleges are not valid and graduates from these colleges cannot apply for specialised medical education at any national or foreign institution.

Unrecognised colleges include: Services Institute of Medical Sciences, Sialkot Medical College, Shaikh Zayed Medical College, Sukkur Medical College, Jinnah Institute of Medical Sciences, Al Huda Medical College, Abbottabad International Medical College, University of Faisalabad Medical and Dental College, Independent Medical College Faisalabad, University College of Medicine and Dentistry and Islamabad Medical and Dental College.

Recognised medical colleges in Punjab include: Allama Iqbal Medical College Lahore, Army Medical College Rawalpindi, Fatima Jinnah Medical College Lahore, King Edward Medical College Lahore, Nishtar Medical College Multan, Punjab Medical College Faisalabad, Quaid-e-Azam Medical College Bahawalpur, Rawalpindi Medical College and De Montmorency College of Dentistry Lahore.

Provisionally recognised medical colleges in Punjab include: Dental Section of Nishtar Medical College, Dental Section of Army Medical College, Services Institute of Medical Sciences Lahore, FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry Lahore, Foundation University Medical College Rawalpindi, Islamic International Medical College Rawalpindi, Dental Section of Islamic International Medical College Lahore, Medical and Dental College Lahore, Dental Section of Lahore Medical College, Shifa College of Medicine Islamabad, Margallah College of Dentistry Rawalpindi and Wah Medical College.

Recognised medical colleges in Sindh include: Chandka Medical College Larkana, Dow Medical College Karachi, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro, People’s Medical College for Girls Nawabshah, Sindh Medical College Karachi and Aga Khan University Medical College Karachi.

Provisionally recognised medical colleges in Sindh include: Karachi Medical and Dental College, Baqai Medical College Karachi, Baqai Dental College Karachi, Fatima Jinnah Dental College Karachi, Faculty of Medicine and Allied Medical Sciences/Isra University Hyderabad, Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry Karachi, Jinnah Medical and Dental College Karachi, Sir Syed College of Medical Sciences for Girls Karachi, Ziauddin Medical College Karachi, Liaquat Ali Khan Memorial College of Dentistry Karachi, Altamash College of Dental Medicine Karachi and Muhammad Medical College Mirpurkhas.

Recognised medical colleges in the North West Frontier Province include: Ayub Medical College Abbottabad and Khyber Medical College Peshawar.

Provisionally recognised medical colleges in NWFP include: Dental Section of Ayub Medical College, Khyber College of Dentistry Peshawar, Gomal Medical College DI Khan, Frontier Medical College Abbottabad, Kabir Medical College Peshawar, Sardar Begum Dental College and Women Medical College Abbottabad.

Balochistan has only one recognised medical college: Bolan Medical College Quetta. The dental section of the college is provisionally recognised.

Currently, the PMDC has no authority to ban illegally operating medical institutions. Officials said the government is expected to implement a new law to empower the PMDC to ban illegal medical colleges.

Last year, in a petition filed by a medical college against the PMDC, the Lahore High Court declared that the PMDC had no authority to recognise medical colleges in the country. The court added the PMDC’s role was limited to the recognition and registration of the doctors.

The Supreme Court later suspended the Lahore High Court ruling against the PMDC. However, the case remains pending before the apex court.

According to PMDC rules, a medical college must have documents of ownership, possession, and plan of academic blocks. Adequate physical facilities for academic blocks, dissection halls, common rooms, cafeteria, medical/dental equipment related to laboratories, libraries, various models and mortuary must also be provided for students.

Every college must be financially viable. Financial resources should be clearly indicated according to level, size, and type of the proposed institution. The institute should fulfil all legal formalities. The faculty should be employed on a full-time basis and qualified as per regulations for appointment given by the PMDC.

A college should have an attached teaching hospital. The hospital should be well equipped and must be functional at the time of the college’s first inspection.

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