The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) has approved 1,400 additional seats in public-sector medical and dental colleges across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Islamabad and Punjab, according to media reports.
The move is aimed at expanding opportunities for meritorious students seeking admission to medical and dental colleges. The council also clarified that the same regulatory standards apply to both public- and private-sector medical colleges.
The Council said it would continue working to expand access to affordable, quality medical and dental education in Pakistan, with the aim of enabling more students to complete their professional studies within the country instead of pursuing educational opportunities abroad.
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) also clarified that private medical and dental colleges had not been granted a greater share of seats compared with public-sector institutions.
According to the Council, the same regulatory requirements apply to both public- and private-sector medical and dental colleges, irrespective of their ownership or administrative structure. These requirements are intended to ensure that all institutions maintain appropriate standards of education, academic resources, clinical training and patient safety.
The PM&DC said its efforts to increase educational opportunities would remain aligned with its regulatory mandate to safeguard the quality and standards of medical and dental education across the country.
The Council added that expanding the number of available seats would go hand in hand with continued regulatory oversight to ensure that greater access to professional education does not come at the expense of training quality.