The Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) has announced a relief for the medical and dental postgraduate students and degree holders who were admitted to various programmes before January 16, 2023.
According to a PMDC spokesperson, a decision was taken at a council meeting on January 7, 2026, under which all students and degree holders who were admitted or had completed their qualifications by January 16, 2023, would be registered with the council after the award of their degrees.
For students admitted after January 16, 2023, the PMDC has stated that the degree-awarding institution should be recognised by the council and the relevant training centre accredited under the Section 25 of the PMDC Act, 2022.
The relief covers qualifications including MS, MD, MDS, MPhil, PhD, FCPS, MCPS and various diploma programmes obtained from Pakistani universities and institutions, as well as from the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan.
It is pertinent to note that this relief would primarily benefit doctors who were admitted to MPhil, PhD and MD programmes before January 16, 2023, a majority of whom obtained these qualifications from general universities. Students admitted to similar programmes in general universities after the cut-off date would not be eligible for the relief and would not be registered by the PMDC unless their universities were formally recognised by the council and their training centres accredited under the Section 25 of the PMDC Act, 2022.
Interestingly, none of the country’s general universities — including the University of Karachi, University of Sindh, Shah Abdul Latif University, University of the Punjab, Quaid-i-Azam University, University of Balochistan and the University of Peshawar are currently registered with the PMDC, nor are their centres accredited by the council.
This is despite the fact that general universities do not require designated training centres for MPhil and PhD programmes. Historically, before the establishment of medical universities, all medical colleges were affiliated with general universities, and the PMDC recognised all such programmes offered by these institutions.
