Medical education suffering due to inexperienced PMC members: PAMI

LAHORE: The foundation of the educational system of Pakistan has been incapacitated since the day Pakistan got independence. The biggest reason for this is the lack of interest of all governments in the education sector. Unaware of the requirements and priorities of the present time, the Ministry of Education has been busy with new experiments which have been borne by every generation and the direction of medical education remained unclear. Institutions from which graduates are supposed to save lives are tantamount to the government for not paying attention to them. In the disputes between PMDC and PMC, young students and their parents are failing to see their future being shaped and all these problems are due to poor planning by the government.
In Pakistan, the PMDC, the body that oversees medical education and doctors’ affairs, was dissolved and a new body, the PMC, was established, but being a democratic country, such a large body was established under a presidential ordinance is an example of promoting individuality rather than collectivity. For the government, it was a change from establishing PMDC to PMC, but what a change it is to have two Surgeons General of the Armed Forces Medical Service and Secretary of the Division while the remaining seven members have been nominated individually. Among them are Roshaneh Zafar, head of a microfinance foundation, Muhammad Ali Raza of a law firm, Tariq Ahmad Khan, a partner of a firm providing audit tax and other advisory services, Dr. Romina Hassan of Agha Khan University, Dr. Asif Loya of Shaukat Khanum of Memorial Cancer Hospital, Dr. Arshad Taqi of Hameed Latif Hospital Lahore and Dr. Anis-ur-Rehman of an elite Dental Clinic in Islamabad.
First of all, out of all these members, three have no experience in the medical field, while Dr. Romana Hassan, Dr. Asif Loya, Dr. Arshad Taqi and Dr. Anis-ur-Rehman are one of the most expensive doctors in the country who are far from the reach of the middle class, lower middle class and lower class. They may not even know how many hours of overtime it takes a working father to send a student to medical college.
Secondly, under the ordinance, the commission will have three parts, one of which will be the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, the other part will be the National Medical and Dental Academic Board, and the third part will be based on the National Medical Authority. In the field of medicine, policymaking, determination of the number of examinations, licensing of medical colleges, standards of education of medical institutions and other related matters including examination procedures will have to be decided. But the members who have no medical education will make decisions about how to do all this work.
Is PMC taking medical education in Pakistan in the right direction?
The PMC has created an obstacle in the government’s plan to improve education that will affect many generations to come. The PMC has clashed with private medical and dental institutions that have invested billions of rupees in education. At present, 65% of the total consumption of medical colleges in Pakistan is being met by private medical and dental colleges. Out of 173 medical colleges, 114 were established by the private sector while the number of government medical colleges is only 59. 60 to 70 percent of the doctors who graduate every year are from private medical colleges.
However, apart from involving private sector educational institutions in educational reforms, the PMC also delays in informing it of its decisions, which of course is a conspiracy. Instead of electing people to this commission, all will be nominated. PAMI doesn’t comprehend what it would be like to have unprofessional civil society members in a professional body.
Today, doctors and medical students across the country are protesting against the poor policies of the PMC. There is only one reason, and that is that people who do not have experience in the medical field are making decisions about the field of doctors who do not even know the complexities of the service structure and the medical system.
The PMC has introduced a new exam called the National Licensing Examination (NLE), which is nothing short of mental anguish for medical students who have completed dozens of MBBS exams in five years. When the opportunity arose to find a job with a degree, the PMC dug a new hole in the path of their career under the name of “NLE” and forced them to take a job by passing the exam and we won’t allow it. Pami, a representative association of private medical and dental colleges, has been constantly voicing its views on the issue and showing the government and students the way to a solution, but the PMC is engaged in a vicious circle of intransigence.
It remains to be seen whether the PMC will end its self-immolation in the near future due to its flawed policies or whether doctors and students will work together to force the government to dissolve PMC that is comprised of incompetent persons and restore the PMDC.