The business of opening private medical colleges has become an easiest way to mint money. These institutions are running without required faculty or training facilities but getting millions of rupees from the parents in the name of medical education but producing ‘half-baked’ doctors, not educated or trained as per the needs of the market.

Addressing a press conference at the Press Club here on Thursday, senior healthcare expert and ex-member of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Dr Shershah Syed said the magnitude of corruption and mismanagement was alarmingly high in the sector of private medical education in Pakistan. These people are covertly backed by the PMDC which are looting parents and students. He said average annual fee and other expenses of a private medical college for MBBS are about Rs1 million. In this way, parents have to pay at least Rs5 million to ‘buy’ a doctor degree to their son or daughter, but when these half-backed doctors go in the job market generally they seldom find a place in respectable hospitals.

 He said leaving a few institutions, all private medical colleges were being run with part-time faculty with no casualty department. He said as big wigs were involved in this mega scandal, no action was being taken against them. He said with manipulation the owners of private medical colleges and vested groups in public sector medical institute, a group of five people are controlling the PMDC and medical education in Pakistan. In last six months many medical and dental colleges are recognised and the number of their seats increased without fulfilling the basic requirements of the PMDC.

He said with the exception of a few, no medical college in public and private sector had enough faculty members and facilities. Some of the medical colleges were functional without attached hospitals.Dr Syed said majority of medical colleges had part-time faculty which was a unique phenomenon in Pakistan. Recently, all private medical colleges had increased their fee, besides charging a lot of money in the name of donations. Sadly, the PMDC is allowing them charge these huge fees in the name of medical education.He said recently the PMDC had announced election in different provinces including Gilgit, Fata, Islamabad, but excluding Azad Jammu and Kashmir. “It is interesting to note that in AJK we have medical colleges while there are no medical colleges in Fata and Gilgit-Baltistan.

 It is also a fact that the PMDC has given a very short notice to the candidates to fill the forms. In this way it has made sure that middle class and poor doctors could participate in the election, as a candidate has to submit Rs100000 along with the form.Dr Shershah Syed said it sees that vested interest group in the PMDC was organising this election to make sure their nominated candidates can be elected from Fata, Gilgit-Baltisitan and at the same time honest and hardworking doctors will not be able to participate in the polls. He said this election would have no credibility and it would be wastage of time.He demanded that the PMDC should become an independent, autonomous and powerful body to monitor the medical education and training in Pakistan.

All political parties should take a clear stand and commit they will do a constitutional amendment for an autonomous and powerful PMDC. He said the present election procedure was not acceptable as it would only strengthen the hands of vested interests. He demanded formation of a PMDC representing profession and medical institutes. 

There should not be more than 31 members in the PMDC, with a small representation from other professional bodies. There should be equal representation from private and public sector medical colleges and universities and no doctor should remain in the PMDC for more than two tenures. He further demanded that all members should be elected for getting representation in the PMDC.