PM&DC’s changing standards troubling MDCAT students, says Dr Mahesh

The Chairman of the National Assemblies Standing Committee on Health Dr. Mahesh Kumar said that students face difficulties every year due to different standards of PM&DC and for the last six months the Committee had been pointing out the issue that the current MDCAT Act would create problems.

The meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Health was held under the chairmanship of Chairman Dr Mahesh Kumar, in which detailed deliberations were held regarding the PM&DC Act 2022 and the MDCAT examination. 

Dr Mahesh Kumar said that the students who gave MD CAT have approached the courts and it is the responsibility of the Committee to help them by going beyond the Act. 

Dr Mahesh Kumar further said that the Jamia Vice Chancellors were congratulated for conducting MDCAT, however, the current Act is not capable of making the same test effective every year. 

He clarified that the Health Minister himself should pay attention to this issue because PM&DC is in trouble. 

Talking on the occasion, Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal, who participated in the meeting, said that the government has been working on this issue for a long time, but no change is possible this year because the ministry is forced under the Act. 

He said that the Act can be amended for next year and the committee should issue instructions in this regard. 

The Health Minister admitted that this law should have been changed earlier and the Parliament should have amended the Act in 2023. 

In the meeting, Health Secretary Hamid Yaqoob said that a children's hospital will be established in place of Rawalpindi Gynecology Hospital and all its expenses will be borne by the Punjab government. 

The meeting was also briefed on the issue of dismissal of trained doctors in the PIMS Burn Unit. 

Executive Director PIMS Dr. Imran Sikandar said that this is an administrative matter and the institution itself is looking into this issue, however, the case of a dismissed doctor is under hearing in the court. 

The Chairman Committee directed that the PIMS administration should resolve this issue at the institutional level.