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The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) has confirmed that the registration exam for foreign medical graduates will remain compulsory. The council said the exam protects patient safety, which it described as its top priority.
Foreign medical graduates (FMGs) have campaigned online and held a press conference demanding an exemption. They argued that they should be allowed to practice in Pakistan without the exam. A PM&DC spokesperson responded, explaining that many Pakistani students studied in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, and other countries under older laws like the PM&DC Ordinance 1962 and the PMC Act 2020.
Parliament passed the PM&DC Act 2022, and the council was reconstituted in April 2023. Since then, the council has introduced reforms to strengthen medical education and improve standards for students abroad. The spokesperson said that only graduates of foreign institutions recognized by PM&DC may receive provisional registration. To get a full license, they must pass the National Registration Examination (NRE).
PM&DC Limits Provisional Registration to Approved Institutions
The council has already started reviewing foreign institutions. Many do not meet the required standards, yet their graduates are demanding registration. Recently, two medical universities in Punjab warned that some foreign graduates lacked proper training. The council decided that only those from approved institutions can get provisional registration before the NRE. Graduates from unrecognized institutions must clear the NRE first.
The spokesperson added that only graduates from schools listed by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) may sit for the NRE. He reminded students that licensing exams are not new. PM&DC first introduced them in the early 1990s under the 1962 Ordinance.
He pointed out that global practices are the same. The US requires the USMLE, the UK requires PLAB, and Canada requires the MCCQE. Pakistan follows suit with the PM&DC registration exam for foreign medical graduates. Licensing exams, he stressed, ensure fairness and protect patients. They also build public trust in the healthcare system by guaranteeing that every doctor is properly assessed.
