In a gross violation of rules, a private medical college in the metropolitan, Azra Naheed Medical College, has admitted 30 students who did not even sit for the compulsory medical entry test, University of Health Sciences authorities revealed to Pakistan Today.
Per the rules set by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) only those students who appear in the entry test conducted by the University of Health Sciences (UHS) are eligible to take admission in private medical colleges. However, setting an example in one of the most daring violation of rules with impunity, of the 100 medical students at ANMC, around 30 have no record of having appeared in the entry test.
“The UHS authorities are probing the incident and a few cases have already surfaced during the initial investigation,” a UHS official said. The UHS has also written a letter to the Punjab Health Department highlighting the violation of rules, asking it to take action against the ANMC. Interestingly, ANMC has been operating without affiliation with the UHS also, which is mandatory for any medical college within the geographical boundaries of Punjab per Section 37 of the UHS Act. The matter is sub-judice and the status of the medical college is also uncertain until the Lahore High Court issues a verdict.
Sources further revealed that the entire exercise has been done to mint money and “oblige” people by giving admissions to those students who could not have secured admission in a medical college otherwise. They further said even those students who have appeared in the entry test have scored very poorly, which is going to effect the quality of doctors being produced by medical institutions. They further said ANMC could not admit students at all because the matter of their affiliation with the UHS was still pending in the LHC and it is “unfair” to put students’ future at stake. Health Secretary Jehanzaib Khan was not available for comments.
‘What are you doing Azra Naheed?’
