Recruitment of 400 medics for PIMS finally begins

Islamabad : At last, the process to hire around 400 doctors for different departments of the badly understaffed Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has begun.

After sitting on the hospital’s request to fill these grade 17 and 18 posts for many months despite getting reminders for early action, the Federal Public Service Commission has advertised them to invite applications from candidates.

Of the 382 positions, 294 are of medical officers (grade 17), 14 of assistant dental surgeons (grade 17), 21 of assistant anaesthetists (grade 17), 29 of assistant professors (grade 18) and 24 of senior registrars (grade 18).

They’ll be filled through both written test and interview on the basis of open merit and quota for provinces and regions, women and non-Muslims.

Though temporary, the posts are likely to become permanent. The recruitment process will take two to three months to complete.

PIMS, the largest public sector hospital in Islamabad, currently suffers from a serious shortage of staff, especially doctors.

In all, it has 3,824 sanctioned posts but 1,011 of them have long been lying vacant. The vacancies include 630 of grade 16-20, 105 of grade 6-15 and 276 of grade 1-5.

A spokesman for the PIMS said he strongly felt that not only would the imminent appointments ease the staff members’ excessive workload but they would benefit visitors as well.