Pakistan inches closer to WFME accreditation
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), after completing the mandatory requirements to be eligible for World Federation for Medical Education (WFME), has applied for accreditation.
It is worth mentioning that US’s Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), after realising that the quality of foreign graduates was deteriorating due to the mushroom growth of private-for-profit colleges, on Sept 21, 2010, announced that after January 2023, graduates of only those countries having recognition from WFME will be allowed to appear in USMLE. Later, the deadline was extended to January 2024 due to Covid-19.
Though the PMDC had started the process, the council was disbanded via a presidential ordinance and eventually the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) was established. The PMC started claiming itself to be a licencing body and powers to inspect medical colleges were given to universities.
In other words, the PMC did not have control over medical education in the country. However, the incumbent government restored the PMDC which started efforts to get the recognition. If it failed to take timely measures, Pakistan might miss the deadline, rendering graduates of Pakistani medical colleges unable to practice medicine in the US.
World Federation for Medical Education ‘approves’ PMDC eligibility for global certification
According to a statement issued by PMDC, after the promulgation of the PMDC Act 2022, the council took up the matter of the WFME recognition on a priority basis.
“President PMDC Prof Dr Rizwan Taj constituted a WFME accreditation cell consisting of experts from all over Pakistan and conducted several meetings for extensive deliberation to fulfil all the requirements of the WFME application.
“Furthermore, the PMDC carried out various workshops nationwide for the said purpose. Almost 124 colleges participated in the workshop. The panel of experts from all over the country was taken on board for the accreditation process,” it stated.
“In the first step, the WFME after assessing the PMDC’s application approved its eligibility for the WFME recognition as an accrediting body and its accreditation programme. PMDC and WFME will now coordinate to schedule the visit of the WFME’s international assessors who will undertake a site visit to Pakistan to inspect the PMDC and its entire regulatory systems. The team will evaluate the complete accreditation process of a medical college by [the] PMDC. The entire process, including physical site assessment, and inspection is expected to be completed…before 2024,” it stated.
“The WFME recognition of the PMDC and its accreditation programme will enable all graduates of these colleges licenced by the PMDC would have the ability to train and work in the USA and internationally without any restriction.”
According to the PMDC president, the council has been striving to “complete the mandatory requirements and develop the standards as per not only WFME standards but also international best practices”
He said it was also the priority of the PMDC to ensure that medical education was on a path of constant improvement and attaining internationally recognised quality as well as ensuring that Pakistan’s medical education and doctors were duly recognised internationally.
Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2023