Medical, dental colleges admission test today

LAHORE : Around 66,000 candidates including 42,000 female and 24,000 male, will appear in Punjab Medical & Dental Colleges’ Admission Test (MDCAT) on Sunday (today). The test will be conducted by University of Health Sciences (UHS).

The Punjab government has finalised arrangements for the test and has deputed senior bureaucrats including provincial secretaries, commissioners and deputy commissioners as monitoring officers whereas senior medical professors would conduct the test. Divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners of respective districts will act as ‘focal persons’ to look after arrangements for the test. UHS has deputed around 5,500 invigilators and around 1,000 superintendents and deputy superintendents for the conduct of the test.

The test will be held simultaneously at 28 centres established in 13 cities of Punjab including Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Sargodha, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sialkot, D.G. Khan, and Hassan Abdal.

The test will start at 10am. The candidates, however, must reach their respective centres at least one hour before the commencement of the test as all centres would be sealed at 09:15am and nobody would be allowed to enter after it.

In Lahore, there are eight centres established at the examination halls of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Lawrence Road; examination halls of Punjab University, Wahdat Road; Government Comprehensive Girls High School, Wahdat Road; Lahore College for Women University, Jail Road; University of Engineering & Technology G.T. Road; Govt. Postgraduate College for Women Samanabad and Divisional Public School Model Town where around 19,000 candidates will take the test.

The test shall comprise 220 multiple choice questions (MCQs), divided into four sections namely Biology (88 MCQs), Chemistry (58 MCQs), Physics (44 MCQs) and English (30 MCQs). Total duration of the test shall be two and a half hour. Total marks of the test are 1100. There shall be negative marking in the test like previous years and while 5 marks will be awarded for each correct answer, one mark would be deducted for each incorrect answer. Briefing the media on the arrangement for the test on Saturday, UHS Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Javed Akram said that the Punjab chief secretary had directed all departments concerned to make immaculate arrangements for smooth and flawless conduct of the admission test.

The district administration, under the supervision of divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners, have finalised the security and logistic plans at their respective centres, Prof Javed Akram said. He added that 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.

Walk-through gates and mobile jammers would be installed at all major centres. Restrictions would be imposed under Section 144 on the entry of unauthorized persons to the premises of examination centres, the UHS VC said. He added that parents and other attendants of the candidates would be provided with waiting areas near the test centres. Traffic police have been directed to make proper traffic and parking arrangements to ensure smooth flow of traffic near the test centres, he said.

Emergency healthcare services will be ensured at all centres which would include fully equipped ambulances, doctors along with paramedical staff and emergency medicines. Moreover, the nearest teaching hospital or district headquarters hospital would be on high alert to ensure a state of readiness to meet any emergency. Arrangements have also been made with power supply companies to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply at all the centres during the test.

Candidates are not allowed to bring any cell phones, calculators, laptops, watches, books and electronic devices at the test centre. Prof Javed Akram said that there would be zero tolerance for the use of unfair means in the test. The candidates shall compete for 3405 MBBS seats in 17 public sector medical colleges and 216 BDS seats in three public dental colleges of the province. Besides, there are around 3,000 MBBS seats available in 25 private medical colleges and 500 BDS seats in 11 private dental colleges. The UHS VC said that candidates must bring with them the printout of their admittance card as well as their original CNIC or domicile or passport.