Doctors have strongly criticized a recent decision by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) to lower the passing marks for the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT), calling for the immediate withdrawal of the notification.
The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), which represents medical practitioners across the country, said the move appears aimed at filling vacant seats in private medical colleges.
According to the PMA, these seats are not vacant due to a lack of qualified candidates, but because high tuition fees make medical education unaffordable for many students.
“The decision to lower MDCAT passing percentages to 52 percent for Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and 47 percent for Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) is a short-sighted move,” said PMA Secretary General Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Shoro.
He further said the move aim to addresses symptoms rather than the root cause of vacant seats, which is the high cost of medical education.
The association stated that the PMDC’s decision prioritizes financial interests over educational standards. It said that by lowering passing standards to fill vacant seats, the regulatory body is effectively supporting the financial interests of private institutions while neglecting its primary responsibility of maintaining the standards of the medical profession.
Doctors also questioned the fairness of the decision for students from previous years who met stricter criteria but were denied admission.
“To lower the bar now, simply to facilitate college revenue, is an affront to past merit,” Shoro said, adding that the PMDC should consider past high-achieving applicants first.
He warned that the decision could set a dangerous precedent and create what he described as a “hazardous legal cover for a substandard education system.”
Visit EduNation to find scholarships from around the world.
