ISLAMABAD   -  Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) has assured the foreign medical graduates who failed the NRE exam that their concerns and demands would be placed before the council for further deliberations.

Foreign medical graduates who failed the NRE exam, on Tuesday staged a protest in front of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC), demanding that the passing marks for the National Examination Board exam be reduced from 70pc to 50pc.

Subsequently, President PM&DC Prof Dr Rizwan Taj met with the delegation of foreign medical graduates wherein, he heard their concerns. He apprised them that it was the decision of the academic board to set passing marks at 70pc. He told the students’ representatives that the demand of the students would be considered but it could not be implemented on an exam which had already been held. He assured them that the matter will be placed before the PM&DC for further deliberation and decision at the earliest.

The NRE exam was conducted by National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) transparently under the supervision of PM&DC. The result was received from NUMS and was uploaded on the PM&DC website the same day. The NRE exam was conducted in four cities of the country: Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi and Peshawar to facilitate the graduates. Taj also said that the PMDC Academic Board has been formed which will look after all the examination matters of NRE, NEB and MDCAT onward.

The PM&DC President further said that the purpose of conducting the NRE exam is to ensure selection of qualified doctors in Pakistan. This examination is conducted while keeping patient safety in mind as precious lives cannot be put in the hands of unqualified doctors/graduates. These Examinations for foreign graduates are conducted all over the world with the aim of getting the most qualified doctors.