Voicing concerns: PMA criticises registration process at PMDC

KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has expressed concerns over the policies of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), including the registration process for fresh graduates.

“The PMDC is not working properly,” alleged PMA Central secretary-general Dr Mirza Ali Azhar during a press conference on Wednesday, adding that many senior doctors are being asked to verify old fellowships for the renewal of registration. “The institute is involved in the harassment of doctors.”

Dr Azhar urged PMDC officials to enhance its capacity first and then impose strict rules, adding that the medical fraternity was uneasy over the recently imposed rules about Continuous Medical Education (CME).

PMA Karachi president Prof Muhammad Idrees Adhi said that the association supported the CME. “Instead of organising a system regarding the CME programme and capacity building, the PMDC has suddenly started demanding CME certificates without any planning or facilitation,” he explained. “This is another method through which the PMDC is harassing doctors all over the country.”

The PMA office-bearers said that doctors across Pakistan were facing problems with the PMDC registration process, adding that there were doctors who had been waiting for months and years to be registered after sending their documents. They alleged that the PMDC, despite the number of staff members it had, was delaying the registration of fresh graduates and new fellows from the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan as well as practicing doctors without any valid reasons.