Doctors put off protest over non-registration of degrees

Doctors protesting over non-registration of their degrees, obtained from Chinese medical institutions, put off their demonstration till Monday following Minister of State for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar assured them that the matter would be looked into by a high-level committee formed by her.

She informed the protesting doctors that the committee will hold it first meeting on Dec 7 and submit its report to the ministry by Dec 10, 2015.

The committee members, she added, include Director General Health Dr Assad Hafeez, Member PMDC Dr Abid Farooqi and Member from Law Division Khashi-ur- Rehman and two students’ representatives.
Earlier, a clash between protesting doctors and police was averted due to timely intervention of some senior officials.

The minister requested the protesting doctors not to create hindrances in the working of PMDC.  She also directed the local administration to handle the situation peacefully.

The protesting students have been demanding registration of their medical degrees received from Chinese medical universities without appearing in equivalency exam of PMDC but the PMDC was not willing to accede to their demand.

Over 200 doctors, carrying banners and placards, had assembled in front of PMDC office to protest against non-registration of their degrees.  They also staged a sit-in in front of the PMDC headquarters, creating hindrance in the smooth flow of vehicular traffic.

Nearly 500 students who went to China in 2009 for doing MBBS in seven medical universities have been denied registration as the universities are reportedly no more recognized by PMDC.

But the students claim that the universities from where they did their MBBS were recognized by the PMDC when they got admission.

They also insist that it was not mandatory upon them to clear National Examination Board’s (NEB) test for doing practice in Pakistan — like all other graduates who need to undergo the equivalency exam after the enactment of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Amendment Act 2012 — because they were enrolled before the enactment of the law.

The young doctors also claim that they were issued no-objection certificates with written assurance from the PMDC that they would be allowed to practice in Pakistan without taking the NEB test as the Chinese universities from where they got their degrees were recognized by the regulatory authority.

News source: Medical News Pakistan