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LAHORE:Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and federal ministries concerned to review exclusion of doctors holding PM&DC-recognised MD and MS qualifications from specialist positions in Hajj Medical Mission 2027.
In a representation submitted to the PM and the ministers for National Health Services and Religious Affairs by Dr Salman Kazmi, Joint Secretary, PMA Lahore, it termed the eligibility criteria, which reportedly require FCPS or FRCS for specialist categories, discriminatory and inconsistent with Pakistan’s postgraduate medical regulatory framework. The association cited the rejection of an application (No. 124060298), which was declined on the grounds that the applicant did not possess the required FRCS or FCPS credential. The PMA pointed out that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) places MD, MS, MDS, FCPS and other recognised equivalent terminal postgraduate qualifications at Level III, subject to recognition and registration in the relevant specialty.
It said the difference between FCPS and university-awarded MD/MS degrees was primarily the awarding institution and nomenclature, as recognised university qualifications also involve structured postgraduate training, examinations, clinical assessments and research. Restricting specialist appointments to FCPS or FRCS holders, it argued, amounted to discrimination against graduates of Pakistan’s chartered medical universities and conflicted with constitutional principles of equality and fairness. The PMA also questioned the rationale of maintaining around 17 public-sector medical universities offering MD/MS programmes while their graduates could subsequently be denied equal professional opportunities by federal departments.
The association urged the government to amend the criteria to include “FCPS, FRCS, MD, MS or any other equivalent Level III postgraduate qualification recognised and registered by PM&DC” and reconsider applications rejected solely on the basis of their MD/MS qualifications. The PMA said the issue affected thousands of current and future MD/MS graduates and could undermine Pakistan’s postgraduate medical education system as well as deprive the Hajj Medical Mission of suitably qualified specialists.
