Lahore - Private institutions have been facilitating medical and dental students better than the public sector universities, says Pakistan Association of Medical and Dental Institutions (PAMI) President Dr S Tariq Suhail.

Addressing the first general body meeting of the association here on Sunday, he said, “It is unfortunate that out of more than 100,000 students who appear in entry test every year, approximately 14,000 students succeed in getting admission to universities and many others have no choice but to go aboard to become professional doctors.

“The public sector universities are allocated 7,205 seats every year, while private universities are apportioned 6,750 seats. This means that private universities have been sharing almost half of the burden of public universities and providing more opportunities to students to make their careers.  “The public sector universities have been spending almost Rs2.1 million to produce a doctor, while contrary to this, private institutions just spend Rs 0.9 million on a doctor,” he added.  PAMI General Secretary Khaqan Waheed Khawaja said: “There are 64 functional private colleges in Pakistan as compared to public colleges, which are just 39. Similarly, the facilities being provided in the private colleges are better than the public colleges.

“A common man has been getting better and healthier facilities at private medical hospitals compared to public hospitals, which are mostly crowded with patients and need a lot of improvements,” he added. Replying to a query about merit and transparency in admissions, Khaqan said: “We have set patterns and criteria for admissions and we will surely follow them to make our selection fair and transparent.”