Sindh’s Minister for Health and Population Welfare, Dr. Azra Pechuho wants to reduce the cut-off score of the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT).
She stated the suggestion in a recent meeting with the PMC president, Dr. Noshad A. Shaikh to discuss the MDCAT admission requirements for medical and dental colleges with the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), elaborating that the pass percentage for MBBS admissions should be 55 percent while that for BDS admissions should be 45 percent.
The PMC president acknowledged her suggestion and assured her that he would forward it to the board for consideration.
Karachi (19-09-22): Minister for Health, Dr.@AzraPechuho met with the President of PMC, Dr. Noshad A. Shaikh. They discussed the current years MDCAT for admission requirements and it was proposed that the pass grade required for MBBS should be 55% and 45% for BDS. #SindhHealth pic.twitter.com/i95AQ0Zt7P
— Health, SW, PHE & RD Department, Sindh (@SindhHealthDpt) September 19, 2022
As per a tweet by the PMC, the Minister for Health agreed to have the MDCAT conducted across the province on a single day as well. Besides this, it was also proposed in the meeting that the test should be postponed to mid-November in consideration of the flood-affected students.
President PMC Dr. Noshad A. Shaikh met with the Minister for Health Sindh @AzraPechuho. Health Minister appreciated the performance of PMC & also acknowledged to conduct MDCAT provincially in one day. It was also proposed to conduct MDCAT in the mid of November. pic.twitter.com/J0SND36ZxV
— Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (@pmc_org) September 19, 2022
Last December, the PMC had declined the Government of Sindh’s request to reduce the MDCAT passing percentage from 65 percent to 50 percent.
Note that the MDCAT is a standardized test for admissions to the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programs.
