The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has announced a relaxation in registration rules for postgraduate students and degree holders who have taken admission or completed their degrees before January 16, 2023. According to the PMDC spokesperson, the decision was made in a January 7, 2026 meeting that students and degree holders who have taken admission or completed their degrees before January 16, 2023, would be registered with the PMDC after the degree is awarded. However, students who have taken admission after January 16, 2023, will be required to get their degree-awarding institution recognized by the PMDC and have their training centers accredited under Section 25 of the PMDC Act 2022. This concession will apply to MS, MD, MDS, MPhil, PhD, FCPS, MCPS, and various diploma programs obtained from universities, institutions, and colleges in Pakistan, including the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan.
It is essential to note that this concession will only apply to doctors who took admission to MPhil, PhD, or MD before January 16, 2023, and the majority of whom have obtained their degrees from General Universities. Students who have taken admission to General Universities after January 16, 2023, will not be eligible for this concession and will not be registered with the PMDC until the universities themselves are recognized by the PMDC and their training centers are accredited.
Interestingly, all General Universities in the country, including the University of Karachi, University of Sindh, Shah Latif University, Punjab University, Quaid-e-Azam University, Balochistan University, Peshawar University, and others are neither registered with the PMDC nor have their centers accredited. It is worth mentioning that General Universities do not require a training center for MPhil and PhD, whereas in the past, all medical colleges were affiliated with General Universities and all their programs were recognized by the PMDC.
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