Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to draw up an action plan for medical education in the country to solve the problems of Pakistani students studying abroad in the field of medicine and has established a 25-member committee in this regard.
A formal notification of the establishment of the committee has been issued. According to the notification, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has been appointed as convener of the committee, while the members include Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Khan Cheema, Law Minister Nazir Tarar, Advisor to Prime Minister on Health Malik Mukhtar Ahmed, Member of Parliament Nafeesa Shah, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Jahanzeb Khan, the federal secretary health, special secretary foreign affairs, chairman of the Higher Education Commission, PM&DC president, provincial health secretaries, and vice chancellors.
The committee will assess the demand and supply gap of medical education in the country and recommend an action plan to fill the gap. It will also review the standard of recognition of the private sector’s medical colleges to ensure quality education, review the phenomenon of students getting admission in unrecognised foreign institutions and propose policy options.
The committee will suggest measures to improve existing the regulatory framework if so required and to establish a coordination framework between the public and private sector medical institutions to ensure uniform quality of education.
It will submit its report within 10 days for the perusal of the prime minister through the Ministry of NHSR&C. The NHSR&C Division shall provide secretariat support to the committee.