PESHAWAR, Medical colleges in the province have admitted more students than the quota allotted by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, which can jeopardise the future of students, according to sources.

“All the government medical colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have admitted more students than the allotted seats by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), which can create problems for students in future,” said the sources.

According to them, admission to medical colleges was required to be done in line with the prescribed criteria so that students were registered by the PMDC, but many students currently enrolled in the medical colleges could face problems in registration as the criteria had not been followed.

For instance, the Khyber Medical College, Peshawar, admitted 278 students against its quota of 250 approved by the PMDC. The Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad, gave admission to 231 students against its approved strength of 200 students in the first year. The Khyber Girls Medical College, Peshawar, enrolled in first year MBBS 67 students, though the approved number of seats was 50. The Saidu Medical College, Swat, admitted 91 students this year against its sanctioned quota of 50 seats. Similarly, the Gomal Medical College, Dera Ismail Khan, admitted 85 students, 35 more than its sanctioned quota of 50 seats, the sources said.

According to them, students admitted in violation of rules could face problems in future and it was the responsibility of the principals of these institutions to come to their rescue.

There have been earlier examples in which students who were admitted by violating the approved quota were denied registration by the PMDC.

“Five students of MBBS and eight of BDS of the Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry (HCM&S), Karachi, are yet to be registered by the PMDC despite the passage of three years,” the sources maintained. The college had admitted 105 students to MBBS against its sanctioned seats of 100 and 33 students to BDS against its allotted seats of 25 in 2006.

The PMDC also declined a request, through a letter, by the HCM&S principal for registration of the remaining students.

The sources said five medical colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had admitted 152 more students than the sanctioned quota, who would face problems in registration.

In the first year, students are registered with the PMDC and they again are required to apply for registration after completing their graduation.

The sources said the PMDC would recognise the students admitted on merit and the rest would not get registration.