Any student who wants to take admission in public or private medical college in Punjab is required to appear in the entry test of Medical & Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT).
The entry test is being held from many years, in 2018 from across Punjab 65,670 students appeared in MDCAT.
This centralized test is conducted by University of Health Sciences (UHS) for which it established 28 centers in 13 cities of the province including:
- Lahore
- Sargodha
- Sahiwal
- Gujrat
- Gujranwala,
- Faisalabad
- Bahawalpur
- Multan
- Dera Ghazi Khan
- Rahim Yar Khan
- Rawalpindi
- Sialkot
- Hassanabdal
The centralized admission policy for medical colleges ensures that the limited seats of medical institutes are given on merit basis. It was a step to get rid of the donation & gift policy of private colleges.
Lahore:
In Lahore 18,418 students appeared for the entry test of colleges, from which 12,068 were girls and 6,350 were boys. The exam centers in Lahore were established in different parts of the city:
- Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Lawrence Road
- Punjab University Examination Halls, Wahdat Road
- Government Comprehensive Girls High School on Wahdat Road
- Divisional Public School, Model Town
- Government Postgraduate College for Women, Samanabad
- University of Engineering and Technology on GT Road
- Lahore College for Women University on Jail Road
[junkie-alert style=”green”] The question paper along with the correct answer was uploaded online on the official website of UHS which accessible for students to judge their performance. The results will be announced within a week with separate merit list of public and private universities. [/junkie-alert]
After results a week time will be given to students for initiating the admission process .
Number of candidates which appeared in exam centers of each city was as follows:
- Lahore = 18,418
- Rawalpindi = 7,874
- Multan was = 10,148
- Faisalabad = 6,614
- Gujranwala = 3,623
- Bahawalpur = 3,356
- Sargodha = 2,803
- Sahiwa = 3,747
- Gujrat = 1,767
- Dera Ghazi Khan = 2,673
- Rahim Yar Khan = 1,758
- Hassanabdal = 824
- Sialkot = 2,065
The admission test was held for 17 government colleges & 21 private medical colleges which are offering MBBS & BDS.
Government Medical Colleges:
Public Sector Medical Colleges in Punjab includes:
- King Edward Medical University (KEMU)
- Nishtar Medical College, Multan
- Army Medical College, Rawalpindi
- Allama Iqbal Medical College
- University Of Health Sciences (UHS)
- Punjab Medical College Faisalabad
- Quaid-e-Azam Medical College, Bahawalpur
- Rawalpindi Medical College
- Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) Lahore
- Fatima Jinnah Medical College for Women
- Sargodha Medical College
- Shaikh Zayed Medical College, Rahim Yar Khan
- Nawaz Sharif Medical College, Gujrat
- Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Medical College
- Federal Medical & Dental College, Islamabad
- Ameer-ud-Din Medical College (PGMI) Lahore
- Khawaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College, Sialkot
- Gujranwala Medical College
- Sahiwal Medical College
- G. Khan Medical College, Dera Ghazi Khan
Many private colleges and institutes such as Lahore Medical & Dental College (LMDC),University College of Medicine & Dentistry – The University of Lahore (UOL) and Avicenna Medical College are also established in Punjab. A complete list of private colleges is available on the official website of Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PM&DC).
Because of the high fees in private institutes people prefer admission in government colleges which have limited capacity. Previous provincial government tried to establish a centralized fee structure for all private medical colleges but failed to implement it.
Karachi, Peshawar, Islamabad, Quetta and other cities have their own admission policies which are different from MDCAT.