PMDC may disaffiliate private medical college linked to KU

Health experts held at Karachi University administration responsible for not establishing medical college and hospital within stipulated time given by the Pakistan Medical Dental Council (PMDC).

Resultantly, the PMDC administration under its rule and regulation has decided to disaffiliate private medical college from the KU. In a recently held meeting, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad had directed public sector non-medical universities in the province to immediately disaffiliate medical colleges affiliated with them in accordance with the decision of PMDC.

The governor said that public sector non-medical universities were required to disaffiliate medical colleges affiliated with them to safeguard the future of students of medicine studying in these institutions.

The governor issued orders to public medical and health universities in Sindh to start proper affiliation of medical colleges situated within their respective jurisdictions. He said medical colleges situated in Karachi could seek fresh affiliation either with Dow University of Health Sciences or with the Jinnah Sindh Medical University.

Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s (PMDC) President Prof Masood Hameed Khan said medical colleges were being linked with general universities due to shortage of medical universities in Sindh province. Now the medical universities had been established in the province, hence these colleges could now be affiliated with these universities, he suggested. He said this initiative would help up-graduate and promote medical education in the province.

Jinnah Sindh Medical University Vice Chancellor Prof Tariq Rafi said now private colleges would be affiliated with government medical universities.

He said medical universities would be responsible for conducing examination and designing curriculum for their affiliated colleges. He said similarly private colleges situated in interior Sindh would be affiliated with nearby medical universities.

Pakistan Dental Association Central Vice-President Dr Kafi Iqbal said the PMDC had given a two-year deadline to Karachi University to establish its own medical college but the university administration could not start this project yet due to known reasons.

He said the PMDC had its own rules and regulations and as a state-run regulatory body they must follow its rules. He said the establishment of medical college project in KU was still under pipeline. He said now its depended on private colleges to affiliate their institutions with Dow University of Health Sciences and Jinnah Sindh Medical University.

He said future of students would not affect due to this decision but they may face some issues by adopting new examination method from semester system to annual. Pakistan Medical Association Centre Secretary General Dr Mirza Ali Azhar said the PMA would take stand if this decision was wrongly implemented to benefit someone or some specific institution. He said as students of Karachi University, they would oppose any idea that creates problems for students.

He said some vested interest group wanted to establish provincial PMDC, CPCP and other institutions. He said the PMA would take stand against any such decision that would destroy medical education of the country.