The Punjab government has approved a new medical admission policy as part of wider health sector reforms, ARY News reported. The decision was finalized during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Friday.
Key Features of the New Policy
- MDCAT Mandatory: Passing the MDCAT exam is now compulsory for admission to all public medical and dental colleges.
- Overseas Candidates: Children of overseas Pakistanis will be charged $10,000 as the MDCAT fee.
- Private Colleges Fee Procedure:
- Once a candidate’s name appears in the private medical college merit list, one-third of the tuition fee must be submitted to the University of Health Sciences (UHS).
- After the final merit list, UHS will transfer the fee to the respective college.
- Students will pay the remaining amount directly to the institution.
Additional Decisions
- Specialization Training: After postgraduate training in private hospitals, trainee doctors will be sent for specialization at private medical colleges to meet the rising demand for specialists.
- Medical Expansion: Instead of building new standalone medical colleges, medical blocks will be established within existing public universities.
- Cancer & Cardiac Care:
- CM Maryam Nawaz hailed the first successful angioplasty at Sahiwal Cardiac Centre as a milestone.
- She instructed Mayo Hospital to create a transparent treatment mechanism at its Ablation Centre.
- Directed officials to provide maximum relief to cancer patients.
- Nawaz Sharif Medical City: CM ordered expedited steps for its establishment, affirming: “I want every cancer patient to have access to treatment.”
