Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has approved major healthcare reforms for the province, including a new admission policy for medical and dental colleges that requires children of overseas Pakistanis to pay a mandatory $10,000 (more than 2.8 million Pakistani rupees) fee in the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT).
Maryam Nawaz chaired a special meeting on health sector reforms where the govt finalized a new admission policy for public and private medical and dental colleges across Punjab.
Under the new policy, the government made passing the MDCAT test mandatory for all admissions to government medical colleges.
For private colleges, the meeting introduced a new fee and merit system to ensure transparency. Candidates named in the private medical college merit lists will have to deposit one-third of the total fee with the University of Health Sciences (UHS).
After the final merit list is released, UHS will transfer this amount to the respective college. Students will deposit the remaining fee directly at the private medical and dental college concerned after the final merit list is released.
The meeting also agreed on a proposal to introduce compulsory service after postgraduate training in private hospitals. The new policy mandates sending trainee doctors for specialization in relevant departments of private medical colleges according to the demand for specialists.