56,000 take medical entrance test today

LAHORE

Punjab medical/dental colleges entrance test by University of Health Sciences (UHS) will be held today.

This year, the candidates will compete for 3,405 MBBS seats in 17 public sector medical colleges and 216 BDS seats in three public dental colleges of the province. 

Besides, there are around 3,500 MBBS seats available in 27 private medical colleges and 800 BDS seats in 12 private dental colleges of Punjab.

More than 56,000 candidates, 36,000 female and 20,000 male, will appear in the entrance test to be held simultaneously at 27 centres established in 13 cities of Punjab, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahimyar Khan, Sargodha, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sialkot, DG Khan and Hasanabdal. Punjab government has finalised the arrangements for the test and has deputed senior bureaucrats, including provincial secretaries, divisional commissioners and Board of Revenue members as monitoring officers while senior medical professors will conduct the test. The district coordination officers of the respective districts will act as focal persons to look after the arrangements for the test. UHS has deputed around 5,000 invigilators and supervisory staff for the conduct of the test.

The test will start at 9am. The candidates, however, have been directed to reach their respective centres at least one hour before the commencement of the test as all the centres would be sealed at 08:15 am and nobody would be allowed to enter the centres after that. In view of rain likely in some cities, UHS has advised the candidates to reach their respective centers early in the morning and also to bring umbrellas or raincoats with them.

In Lahore, seven centres will be established in the examination halls of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Lawrence Road; Examination Halls of Punjab University, Wahdat Road; Government Comprehensive Girls High School, Wahdat Road; University of Education, Township; Lahore College for Women University, Jail Road; Government Postgraduate College for Women, Samanabad and Government Central Model School, Lower Mall, where around 16,800 candidates will take the test.

The test will comprise 220 multiple choice questions (MCQs), divided into four sections; Physics, 44 MCQs, Chemistry, 58 MCQs, English, 30 MCQs and Biology, 88 MCQs. Total duration of the test will be two and a half hours. After the test, the candidates will be required to take a separate test comprising questions related to aptitude and feedback. Extra 30 minutes will be given to the candidates for this test which would have no weight in the entrance test score. 

Total marks of the test will be 1100. There will be negative marking in the test like the previous years and while five marks will be awarded for each correct answer, one mark will be deducted for each incorrect answer. Briefing on the arrangement for the test, UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Gen (r) Prof Muhammad Aslam said the Punjab government had made immaculate arrangements for smooth and flawless conduct of the entrance test. He said the district administration concerned, under the supervision of divisional commissioners and district coordination officers, had finalised the security and logistic plans at their respective centres. Prof Muhammad Aslam said the district police officers would be responsible for security and deployment of police personnel at the test centres. Police would ensure extensive patrolling and technical sweeping of the area before the commencement of the test.