The National Assembly\u2019s Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination met in Islamabad to address a range of pressing issues affecting medical and dental education in Pakistan. The committee, chaired by Dr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, focused on student concerns, regulatory challenges, and safeguards for the future integrity of entrance examinations.<\/p>\n
A key topic of discussion was the situation of medical students from Isra University. Members voiced concern over the absence of the university\u2019s Vice Chancellor, amid fears that ongoing administrative issues could jeopardize students\u2019 careers. The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and the Ministry of National Health Services assured the committee that the issues had been resolved amicably. However, the committee urged authorities to expedite the students\u2019 placement in mandatory house jobs, a process delayed by procedural barriers. The PMDC president pledged full support to facilitate these students.<\/p>\n
The committee also addressed the plight of Pakistani medical students who had studied in Kyrgyzstan and are awaiting recognition in Pakistan. It directed the PMDC to immediately issue a formal notice and hold a council meeting aimed at granting provisional licenses and enabling the students to register for the National Registration Examination (NRE) without further delay. The committee warned that any further delay would result in serious action against the PMDC.<\/p>\n
Concerns were also raised about stalled promotions within the PMDC for officers who had already been cleared in FIA inquiries. The PMDC registrar assured that promotions would now be fast-tracked, following due process. Members further demanded urgent enforcement of court orders calling for the removal of the President of the Pakistan Nursing and Midwifery Council, warning that continued non-compliance would not be tolerated.<\/p>\n
Attention then turned to the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT), with members debating the weight assigned to various educational milestones in the admission process. There was criticism of alleged manipulation in board exams, prompting suggestions that the weighting of the MDCAT should be increased to uphold transparency and merit. Plans were set in motion for an in-person meeting with provincial health departments, education boards, and vice chancellors to discuss comprehensive exam reforms. Legislative changes, including shortening the validity of MDCAT results from three years to one or two years, were also discussed.<\/p>\n
In addition to academic matters, the committee expressed sympathy for victims of recent floods, especially in Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It pressed the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and the National Health Ministry to work closely with provincial health agencies to ensure timely delivery of emergency kits and essential medicines to flood-hit communities.<\/p>\n
The meeting brought together multiple members of the National Assembly and senior officials from the Ministry of National Health Services and related departments, underlining the urgency and importance of the issues at hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The National Assembly\u2019s Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination met in Islamabad to address a range of pressing issues affecting medical and dental education in Pakistan. The committee, chaired by Dr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, focused on student concerns, regulatory challenges, and safeguards for the future integrity of entrance examinations. A key topic …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9110"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9112,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9110\/revisions\/9112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}