MDCAT retest in KPK and Sindh: Punjab 'forced' to delay merit list for public medical colleges

In view of the re-conduct of the medical and dental college admission test (MDCAT) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, the Provincial Admission Committee (PAC) has decided to re-open the MBBS/BDS application portal in Punjab for a few more days to accommodate the students for admission, reported the 24NewsHD TV channel.

A decision to this effect was taken in a PAC meeting, held at UHS on Tuesday and chaired by the Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education department's secretary, Ali Jan Khan.

The meeting was attended by vice-chancellors of all public sector medical universities.

It was informed that the caretaker governments of KPK and Sindh had formally announced the re-conduct of the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) 2023, which had its results cancelled earlier this month.  The retest is scheduled for November 19.

In line with the provisions of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) Act 2022, which allows candidates to take the MDCAT in any province with results acceptable throughout Pakistan, the committee decided to reopen the application portal for MBBS and BDS in Punjab following the declaration of MDCAT results in the two provinces.

 The portal for government medical colleges will be open for three more days, while for private colleges, it will remain open for an additional two weeks for candidates retaking the test in KPK and Sindh on Nov 19.  

However, it was noted that this would result in a delay in the merit list for public sector medical colleges in Punjab, originally set to be displayed on November 13.

 On this occasion, Secretary Health Ali Jan Khan stated that the MDCAT in Punjab has been conducted transparently. However, the retaking of MDCAT in the other two provinces will also affect the students of Punjab. The committee unanimously recommended that candidates should appear in the MDCAT based on domicile, as has been the practice in the past, to ensure that all candidates admitted to medical and dental colleges in a province are assessed through a single test.

The committee also highlighted that, according to the current PM&DC policy, the cancellation of a test in one province affects candidates from other provinces, and suggested the need for amendments to address this issue. It recommended that the Punjab government should raise this matter with the federal government to conduct next year's MDCAT on the basis of domicile.

The meeting also discussed the ongoing admission process in government and private medical and dental colleges.

UHS has received 12,363 applications for government colleges and 8,865 for private colleges so far.

An amendment to the policy on collecting fees for private medical colleges was approved at the meeting.

It was decided that candidates admitted to a college as their first choice should deposit their full fee at the respective college and will not be required to deposit fees at UHS.

 Candidates who choose not to be upgraded after admission will also need to deposit their complete fee at their respective colleges. Furthermore, colleges submitting an affidavit to follow UHS policies regarding fee refunds and transfers will be allowed to collect the full fee from candidates. Under this affidavit, the college will be obligated to refund all fees without deductions within a week if a candidate leaves the seat or is upgraded to another college. Otherwise, the option to charge fees from the candidates will be revoked, and legal action will be taken against the college.