Representatives of Pakistani foreign medical graduates say thousands of doctors trained abroad are being denied basic licensing rights and career opportunities by what they describe as harsh and discriminatory policies of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC). At a press conference in Islamabad, they demanded immediate reforms including a clear, transparent notification of rules, reopening of the PMDC online portal, contracting with an independent testing provider for standardized exams, fair treatment in the National Recognition Examination (NRE) system, and rapid issuance of permanent registration certificates.
Speakers at the National Press Club, led by Dr. Tahir Khan Sikandri and Dr. Rafi Shero, argued that many Pakistani doctors who graduated from foreign institutions have been unjustly blocked from obtaining licensure and recognition despite years of study. They said FMGs (foreign medical graduates) are being treated as criminals rather than physicians who want to serve Pakistan, and they called for an immediate end to policies they consider anti-FMG.
A central grievance involves the NRE, the recognition/licensing exam process. The FMG representatives said international licensing examinations such as the USMLE, PLAB and AMC impose no arbitrary limits on attempts, yet PMDC has imposed restrictive attempt limits and confined the NRE’s scope to unpaid house jobs and limited general practice. They said this is unfair compared with international norms and leaves FMGs unable to use valid hospital experience gained abroad.
The group pointed to specific procedural and standard discrepancies. They said some foreign hospital house jobs — including those in China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Iran — are routinely rejected, forcing FMGs to repeat house jobs in Pakistan. They also alleged inconsistent pass thresholds: Pakistani medical colleges reportedly use a 50 percent passing criterion while FMGs face 60–70 percent thresholds that they say are designed to produce failures. Past policies that stopped candidates who failed NRE-2 three times from further attempts were cited as unprecedented and unjust.
Organizers criticized PMDC’s exam administration and scheduling, saying the council has failed to hold the NRE multiple times a year as needed, while the rival body PMC conducted four exams annually. To address transparency and reliability concerns, they urged PMDC to sign a contract with the Prometric testing service to run regular, internationally accepted examinations under clear rules.
Operational delays and bureaucracy were additional concerns. The FMG representatives said obtaining good‑standing certificates and full licenses can take up to six months, which disproportionately affects doctors from remote areas. They demanded that PMDC reopen its online portal without further delay and that permanent registration (PRMP) be issued within one week of eligibility.
The delegation said FMGs have formed a united front to press the government and PMDC for immediate corrective action. They vowed to continue a peaceful struggle until their demands for fair licensing, recognition of valid foreign training, transparent examinations and timely registration are met.
