MDCAT 2023: Aspirants Demand Delay of Exam Until September End

By: Omed Hajjana

Islamabad: Many candidates preparing to take the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) this year are demanding a postponement of the exam until the end of September.

A significant number of students have expressed their concerns about the exams this year on Twitter.

This development comes after the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) announced on June 4, 2023, that the MDCAT would be held on August 27 of the same year. Beverage Industry Trying to Derail Public Health Agenda

PMDC officials have stated that the syllabus for the MDCAT will remain the same as last year. They have directed provincial authorities to begin preparing for this year’s exam.

Laraib Shah, a young MDCAT aspirant from Peshawar, has urged Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel and PMDC officials to delay the exam until the end of September.

She pointed out that our Intermediate exams will be completed on July 26, and added that it will be difficult for students to prepare for the MDCAT within one month.

She further mentioned that PMDC announced the syllabus on June 4, and it will be challenging for students to cover the syllabus within a month. “We need more time for test preparation,” she emphasized.

Another MDCAT candidate, Hasham Wadood, while speaking to NewzTodays, demanded that the exam be conducted at the end of September.

He suggested excluding logical questions from the exam and urged PMDC to reconsider its weightage policy.

During a telephonic interview on this issue, a Member of the National Assembly (NA) Health Committee, Dr. Samina Matlob, expressed full support for the students’ demand. She said that students must be given sufficient time for test preparation as it is a matter of their future.

She assured she would bring the students’ demand to delay the exam to the attention of the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination in the upcoming meeting.

Dr. Matlob mentioned that the internal arrangements and working structure of PMDC have completely failed to provide relief to medical students.

When contacted, a senior officer of the PMDC, who wished not to be quoted, told Newz Todays that students should focus on their studies as they have already prepared academic content for the FSC exam, and the same syllabus will be used for the MDCAT exam.

However, they added that conducting the exam as scheduled would be helpful in completing admissions to medical and dental colleges, and it would not disrupt the students’ precious time.