A Senate health subcommittee on Tuesday reviewed preparations for the 2026 Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT), including the examination schedule, curriculum, registration process and policies governing Pakistani students seeking medical education abroad.
The meeting was chaired by subcommittee convener Senator Anusha Rahman and attended by Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) president and representatives of relevant institutions.
PMDC officials told the committee that MDCAT 2026 would be held on August 16, shortly after the completion of intermediate examinations. The council has also announced the August 16 test date through its official notices.
Officials said students in Azad Jammu and Kashmir had been given an additional three days to register because of internet connectivity problems. More than 135,000 candidates had registered so far, with further applications expected.
The committee was informed that no complaint of a leaked MDCAT question paper had been received during last year’s examination.
Officials said the test had been scheduled after the completion of FSc examinations on the prime minister’s instructions to reduce pressure on students and prevent them from preparing simultaneously for board and medical entry examinations.
According to PMDC representatives, the MDCAT curriculum was developed by the National Medical and Dental Academic Board after consultations with subject experts, teachers, students and parents.
More than 1,000 parents submitted recommendations by email on the draft curriculum, officials said, adding that suggestions were incorporated at different stages of the review process.
The curriculum will remain in force for two years, while its individual components will be reviewed every six months, the committee was told.
Senator Samina Zehri raised concerns about differences between the A-Level and FSc curricula, saying students came from significantly different educational systems.
Kamal said MDCAT questions were designed to provide an equal opportunity to candidates from both educational backgrounds.
He said the government would collect data from the previous five years to determine the proportion of A-Level and FSc students among the approximately 95,000 candidates who passed the admission test.
Rahman also sought the names and details of members of a medical education assessment committee assisting the health minister. Kamal assured the panel that the information would be provided within 24 hours.
During the meeting, a committee member questioned why Pakistani students seeking medical education abroad were also required to pass MDCAT.
The health minister said the policy would be reviewed.
Rahman warned students against enrolling in foreign universities that had been red-flagged or declared substandard. A PMDC reforms committee representative said students planning to study medicine abroad were required to register with the council before leaving Pakistan.
Kamal told the committee that about 40,000 Pakistani students travelled abroad annually for medical education, spending more than $800 million.
Rahman said graduates returning after completing their education could also contribute to Pakistan’s economy through their professional work and earnings.
The panel also discussed the high cost of private academies offering MDCAT preparation courses.
Rahman said families were forced to spend hundreds of thousands of rupees each year on coaching because of the pressure surrounding the examination.
Kamal described the private coaching industry as a “mafia” and said scheduling MDCAT soon after intermediate examinations was intended to reduce students’ dependence on academies.
He said candidates had previously remained under pressure for several months while preparing separately for board examinations and MDCAT.
The minister said reforms to the admission test should not be linked to vacant seats in medical colleges, arguing that high tuition fees at private institutions were the main reason some seats remained unfilled.
Kamal said Pakistani medical graduates continued to perform well internationally, noting that 1,440 Pakistani doctors had recently been selected for residency programmes in the United States.
He said improvements in medical curricula and education standards had expanded international opportunities for Pakistani doctors and called for increasing the number of trained physicians who could serve both Pakistan and overseas health systems.