The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s (PMDC) recent policy changes have sparked widespread confusion and frustration among Pakistani graduates of foreign medical universities.
The new regulations stipulate that only those who graduated from PMDC-recognised foreign universities are eligible for provisional registration and subsequent house jobs in Pakistan. Graduates from non-recognised institutions must now clear the National Registration Examination (NRE) to obtain a provisional license.
This shift has disproportionately affected students from countries such as China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, many of whom began their studies under the PMDC Ordinance 1962 or the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) Act 2020.
The PMDC claims the new reforms, introduced by the council constituted in April 2023, aim to “ensure patient safety and strengthen the national health system.” The council also announced an increase in the processing fee for inclusion in the recognised institutions list—from $5,000 to $10,000.
Confusion erupted when foreign medical graduates (FMGs) returning to Pakistan this summer discovered that their university portals had been closed. According to Dr Rafey Sher, a graduate of the International University of Kyrgyzstan, even students from recognised universities were denied provisional licenses.
While the PMDC insists only 700 graduates are affected, FMGs estimate the number to be closer to 3,000, including those unable to access their portals. Despite a PMDC press release stating that graduates from recognised institutions would receive licenses without the NRE, many, including Dr Rafey, report being denied in practice.
Dr Fatima Abid of Jinnah Sindh Medical University noted that similar delays persist even within local institutions, attributing them to procedural backlogs.
As graduates continue to wait, many have missed their house job opportunities, losing nearly a year to bureaucratic uncertainty while the PMDC remains silent on the matter.
