PMDC Warns Against Un-recognised Postgraduate Medical Programs

PM&DC Issues Warning on Unrecognised Postgraduate Medical Training

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) has formally cautioned medical graduates against enrolling in postgraduate programmes that lack official accreditation. According to the council, degrees obtained from such programmes will not be registered, effectively making them invalid for professional practice or career progression.

In its official statement, the PM&DC revealed that several universities are offering postgraduate medical and dental courses without fulfilling mandatory requirements under Section 25 of the PM&DC Act, 2022. The council has directed these institutions to immediately discontinue such programmes and warned universities against affiliating with or promoting unrecognised training.

This announcement comes at a time when Pakistan faces a growing mismatch between the number of medical graduates and the limited availability of accredited residency positions. Over the past two decades, undergraduate medical education has expanded significantly, producing what officials describe as an adequate—and in some fields, surplus—number of doctors. However, the number of structured postgraduate training slots has not kept pace, leaving thousands of young doctors competing for limited opportunities each year.

Health experts argue that this shortage has created space for unregulated programmes, which exploit the desperation of doctors seeking specialisation. These unrecognised courses not only waste valuable time and resources but also fail to meet professional standards, ultimately weakening the healthcare system.

PM&DC President Prof Dr Rizwan Taj has stressed the importance of expanding accredited training capacity to absorb the growing number of graduates. He highlighted the need to upgrade district and tehsil-level hospitals into recognised training centres, which would decentralise postgraduate education and improve access to specialist care in underserved areas.

The council’s latest warning aims to protect young doctors from investing in invalid qualifications while ensuring that medical training in Pakistan adheres to professional and regulatory standards. Provincial health departments have also been urged to expand residency slots, as the real bottleneck in Pakistan’s healthcare workforce is no longer the supply of doctors but the shortage of structured postgraduate training opportunities.

By enforcing strict accreditation rules, the PM&DC hopes to safeguard the integrity of medical education and strengthen the country’s healthcare system with properly trained specialists.