Foreign dental graduates do badly in PMDC exam

Islamabad: The foreign dental graduates have fared very badly in the recent Pakistan Medical and Dental Council registration examination.

All Pakistani nationals having foreign medical and dental qualifications have to pass the PMDC National Examination Board examinations to practise in the country. These examinations are conducted by the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University/PIMS, Islamabad.

On July 26, the NEB Dental Step-l (Basic Sciences) and Step-II (Clinical Sciences) examinations were held at the Pak-China Friendship Centre, Islamabad. But their results show a very low pass rate.

According to the exam results seen by ‘The News’, 10 foreign dental graduates sat the Step-l (Basic Sciences) exam but nine of them failed putting the pass percentage at 10, while four appeared in the Step-II (Clinical Sciences) exam and three of them were unsuccessful taking the pass rate at 75 per cent.

The PMDC said the candidates could apply for rechecking of papers in 10 days. According to it, the NEB Dental Step-III OSCE/viva exam will take place on September 1 at the PIMS-SZABMU. Around 470 candidates will sit that exam, while professors will be called from all over the country to assess their competency.