PMC to launch online system for medical students, practitioners

Islamabad: Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) has planned to launch fully automated online application system in March allowing medical graduates and licensed practitioners to apply for licenses, renewals, and other services without visiting the commission office.

According to an official of PMC, the services would also include the addition of qualifications online along with an online payment methodology without a visit to any PMC offices or banks. He said that the pre-existing database of licensed practitioners only had CNICs of less than 35 per cent licensed practitioners in their record.

The council approved the launch, in March 2021, of the digital license profile project, allowing practitioners to create their digital profile online and, upon biometric verification, update their status and profile online with automated verification processes.

He added the digital license profile would enable the commission to issue licenses to practitioners immediately and in a digital format. It would also secure a practitioner’s data and identity as well as would enable a public mobile application for any person to verify the status of a medical practitioner.

He said the commission also approved a policy allowing licensed doctors who were either not practicing or were based outside Pakistan to simply notify the commission of their non-practicing status in Pakistan to stop the renewal and any other charges being levied on their licenses.

The commission approved the decisions of the disciplinary committee which entail imposing penalties including heavy fines for medical and dental practitioners working without a valid license, as well as suspending and cancelling licenses on account of negligence and placing privileges under review.

The regulations provided for the disciplinary adjudication by the PMC Disciplinary Committee of complaints of negligence, harassment and other violations of the code of ethics by licensed practitioners.

Major and minor penalties defined including cancellation and suspension of licenses and imposition of fines with the first-time inclusion of a penalty requiring a practitioner to do free-of-cost service in the public sector and low-income regions.

The council has taken notice of a group of foreign students who had graduated before the assessment of foreign colleges and post assessment their colleges were placed in List B requiring them to return to the country they graduated to obtain a license.

He said in this regard a special one-time pathway has been approved for these graduates to replace the requirement for a foreign license with license eligibility enabling them to start their house jobs in Pakistan.

As per policy about the one-time licensing pathway for students who had graduated prior to January 2021 from a foreign college contained in List B, students would be processed for licensing with requirements included they would be required to show license eligibility in the country from where they graduated if they have not acquired a license from such country, they qualify the NLE, upon the qualification of NLE, they would be granted Provisional License, they would be required to then complete a house job in Pakistan while upon completion of the house job, they would be granted a full license.

The council made it clear that all persons having graduated from a List B college and who have been granted provisional licenses earlier based on the Green List would be required to appear in the first NLE and qualify the same to retain the validity of their provisional license.

If such person fails to qualify for the first NLE, the provisional license would be suspended till such time as they qualify for the NLE. Similarly, if any person who falls in such category and a graduate from their college was granted a provisional license on the basis of the Green List previously would be granted a provisional license to start, he added.