The Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) has decided to lower the passing percentage of the Medical & Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) from 65 percent to 55 percent for the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programs at all dental colleges.
As per the decision made in a meeting of the Medical and Dental Council that was chaired by PMC President, Dr. Arshad Taqi, candidates who scored 55 percent marks in the MDCAT can now apply for admission to both private and government dental colleges.
While there is no official clarification for the change, sources within the PMC attributed it to a low number of BDS admissions in the last academic session as compared to the previous years, coupled with protests against the PMC for the high pass percentage of the MDCAT. The protesters had also demanded a reasonable percentage cut to facilitate admission applications.
The MDCAT 2022 will be conducted online from 7 to 30 September and passing it is mandatory for admission to medical and dental colleges in Pakistan. However, the pass percentage to apply for admission to MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) remains unchanged.
The PMC has also approved minor changes to the MDCAT curriculum weightage of subjects based on the recommendations of the National Medical and Dental Academic Board. This includes the removal of the topic ‘Gout’.
Accordingly, the changes in the weightage of questions from the MDCAT curriculum are: Biology — 32 percent to 34 percent; Physics and Chemistry — 26.5 percent to 27 percent; English — 10 percent to nine percent; and Logical Reasoning — five percent to three percent. The next MDCAT will consist of 210 questions based on these percentages.
The Academic Board recommendations are based on inputs from Provincial Higher Secondary Boards while ascertaining that the MDCAT curriculum follows the National Curriculum 2006 and the provincial curriculums, and is not out of the syllabi.
