PMDC frames new teaching regulations

Islamabad: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the regulator for medical and dental education and practice in the country, has framed new regulations for the appointment and promotion of faculty professional staff members, examiners, principals, deans and administrative staff members in undergraduate and post-graduate medical and dental institutions.

The regulations made by the council under Section 33(2) of the PMDC Ordinance, 1962, will come into force on August 1, 2017. They will be applicable for fresh appointments and next promotions in all medical and dental institutions recognised by the PMDC in the country.

According to a spokesperson for the PMDC, all appointments already made under the previous PMDC regulations will not be disturbed, while the titles already accrued will be held. However, all future appointments and promotions will be made according to the regulations.

"Medical education today is under revolutionary changes all over the world. The decades old discipline/subject-based medical curriculum is being replaced by system based integrated modular curriculum and learning environment is continuously changing in the medical/dental institutions," the spokesperson said.

He said in order to cope up with the rapid changes in the medical education, the faculty members needed to redefine their role as mentors and facilitators and needed to equip themselves with the latest instructional/communication skills and techniques.

The spokesperson said in the context of globally changing environment of medical education, the council had reviewed and re-framed its regulations so that the implementation of medical curriculum was ensured by competent, capable and qualified faculty only," he said. To ensure improvement in the medical research by the faculty members, the revised promotion criterion is as follows:

Under the new regulations, all undergraduate medical and dental colleges have been directed to establish a medical education department in their colleges with fully functional department of medical education and duly qualified full-time faculty with at least three full-time faculty members with effect from December 31, 2017.

The education department will play a pivotal role in steering the educational activities of the medical and dental institutions. This department will have a counselling cell with at least one qualified psychologist having master's degree, 18 years of education.

The spokesperson said to promote the culture of research in medical education and encourage the medical and dental faculty to conduct research and get it published, the number of mandatory original articles for promotion for assistant, associate and full professors had been increased.

"For promotion to assistant professor, at least two research papers will be required after December 31, 2018, in the relevant subject; for promotion from assistant professor to associate professor, a total of five research publications in the relevant subject of which three as assistant professor are required after December 31st, 2018, and five years of teaching experience, and for promotion from associate professor to professor, at least three years teaching experience as associate professor or nine years teaching experience as assistant professor will be mandatory and at least eight research publication in the relevant subject of which three should be during last three years are required," he said.

The spokesman said the holder of FCPS in clinical subjects and non-medical faculty were no more eligible for appointment to the positions of basic medical science subjects.