Lahore: The Punjab government has approved a new admission policy for public and private medical and dental colleges across the province.
The decision was made during a high-level meeting chaired by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. Several key decisions regarding the provincial health sector were finalized during the session.
As per the new policy, passing the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) is now mandatory for admission to public medical colleges. For children of overseas Pakistanis, a fee of $10,000 has been fixed for MDCAT admission.
In a major change to the private sector admission process, candidates listed in the provisional merit list of private medical colleges will be required to deposit one-third of the tuition fee with the University of Health Sciences (UHS).
Once the final merit list is issued, UHS will transfer the deposited amount to the respective private college. Students will then pay the remaining fee directly to the allotted medical or dental college.
The meeting also agreed upon a mutual policy for mandatory service following postgraduate training in private hospitals. It was decided that trainee doctors will be assigned to relevant departments in private medical colleges for specialization.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz expressed satisfaction over the successful angioplasty procedure conducted in Sahiwal and directed that a transparent and foolproof system be developed for treatment at the Ablation Center in Mayo Hospital, Lahore.
Another key decision was to construct medical blocks within existing public universities instead of building entirely new structures for new medical colleges.
Additionally, the Chief Minister approved the formation of Boards of Management for various institutions across Punjab.
