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ISLAMABAD: Doctors who graduated from Pakistani colleges may not be able to work in the United States (US) after Jan 2024 as the country has failed to meet the criteria of the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) and the deadline is upcoming fast.
Defunct Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) applied for the WFME accreditation and also invite its delegation to visit Pakistan but in 2019, the PMDC dissolve and Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) recognized. Consequently, the WFME visit postponed.
In order to get accreditation from the WFME, Pakistan has time till January 2024 and the current Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) Act at existing does not meet the standards to get recognition from the world body.
The PMC, on the other hand, requested that it had “formally initiated the application process for the recognition” and the whole process, containing on-site visit by the WFME, is predictable to take 12 to 15 months, which is well within the time frame of Jan 2024.
Permitting to a senior official of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), around 25pc of the doctors working in the US has foreign qualifications.
“US’s Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), after realising that the quality of foreign graduates deteriorating due to mushroom growth of private-for-profit colleges, on Sept 21, 2011, announced that after January 2023 graduates of only those countries recognition from WFME allowed to appear in United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE),” the official said, addition that the deadline later prolonged to January 2024 due to Covid-19.
However, the PMDC ongoing the process, it removed through a presidential ordinance and ultimately the PMC recognized in its stead.
The PMC started appealing itself to be a licensing body and powers to inspect medical colleges given to universities. In other words, the PMC does not have mechanism over medical education in the country.
In case of failure to take timely measures, Pakistan might miss the deadline, representation graduates of Pakistani medical colleges powerless to practice medicine in the US.
Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Secretary General Dr Qaiser Sajjad said it was disastrous that the PMC had cancelled the visit of the WFME.
“It is not going to be easy to get accreditation by 2024 as there is a long list of conditions which include quality of education, criteria for inspections of colleges, rules, faculty and many other things,” the official added.