Entry test for admissions in medical and dental colleges held

Rawalpindi : The University of Health Sciences, Lahore, that has years of experience in conducting medical college entrance examination conducted entry test for admissions in medical and dental colleges across the Punjab on Sunday.

This year about 74,000 students appeared in the largest competitive examination of the country and the figure is about 8,000 more than the number of candidates last year. Around 26 thousand male students and 48 thousand female students took part in the examination.

Medical & Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) for the Punjab Medical and Dental Colleges is considered to be the largest exam of this kind in the country in which such a large number of students at one time demonstrate their ability to get enrolled in professional colleges.

It is important to mention here that a section of society is much against the exams like MDCAT and ECAT (Engineering College Admission Test) with a view that the students appeared in like tests had already gone through intermediate or equivalent examinations across the country.

This year, the University of Health Sciences Lahore, established around 33 centres in 13 cities for MDCAT. According to the university spokesman, facilitation centres were set up in which guidance was given to the students and parents to ensure for their convenience. The Vice Chancellor of the University of Health Sciences Dr. Javed Akram supervised all the preparation himself and stayed in touch with the organizers and the administration throughout the process to ensure smooth conduct of the examination.

In Rawalpindi, testing centres were established at Siddique Public School, Jinnah Institute of Information and Commerce, Government Degree College for Boys Sixth Road, Government Postgraduate College for Women Sixth Road and Ideal Cambridge School along Sixth Road. As many as 8898 students appeared for the exam.

Basil Sajjad, the Regional Coordinator of the UHS Lahore and the Deputy Controller of Examinations of the UHS Lahore Farooq Malik, were entrusted with arrangements at Rawalpindi and Hassan Abdal whereas Central Coordination was done by Ijaz Hussain, Director Administration at UHS.

High quality arrangements were seen in Rawalpindi Centres, where security and traffic arrangements outside the centres were commendable. To maintain traffic flow, a special traffic plan was prepared by the District Administration of Rawalpindi.

One notable factor observed during this year's exam was the presence of NADRA's mobile units, which assisted in the verification and delivery of data to students. For ensuring timely medical assistance, special teams of doctors and rescue 1122 were also deployed at the testing centres.

Professor Javed Akram visited various centres during the exam to review the arrangements and appreciated the staff's efforts to make the examination successful.