PMDC forms committee to improve future MDCAT

The Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) has formed a seven-member committee to make the future Medical & Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) better and more transparent. PMDC Registrar Dr Shaista issued a formal notification of the establishment of the committee.

The committee will be chaired by Army Medical College Rawalpindi Principal Major General Muhammad Suhail Amin, while PMDC Medical Education Director Dr Sameera Ehsan will be the secretary of the committee.

The members will be Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University Islamabad Vice Chancellor Professor Muhammad Iqbal Khan, Khyber Medical University Peshawar VC Professor Dr Ziaul Haq, Inter-Board Coordination Commission Executive Director Dr Ghulam Ali Mallah, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority IT Consultant Dr Muhammad Tanveer Afzal and PMDC Deputy Director Ahmed Raza.

According to the notification, the committee will identify various issues and challenges related to MDCAT 2024. It will also make recommendations for future MDCAT through a unified and centralised method.

The committee will make recommendations to reduce human errors, increase transparency and adopt IT-based solutions. It will also recommend strategies for the development of a question bank in relation to a uniform syllabus all over the country. The committee’s chairman may co-opt any member as and when required.

According to sources, the PMDC is also considering a proposal to conduct MDCAT at central level or for each university to conduct its own test, while a proposal to conduct MDCAT immediately after the intermediate exams is also under consideration in order to protect candidates from the tuition mafia in the name of test preparation.

On October 26, the Sindh High Court had told the provincial authorities through a short order to retake the MDCAT within four weeks after an inquiry committee had concluded that the entire test procedure of September in had been compromised in the province.