Over 36,000 appear in UHS medical entrance test

Lahore, As many as 36,098 candidates (11,110 male and 24,988 female) appeared for medical and dental colleges’ entrance test which was conducted by University of Health Sciences (UHS) Lahore simultaneously at 12 cities of the Punjab amid tight security on Sunday.

The test, started at 0900 hrs, conducted at 20 centres set up in Lahore, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, Rawalpindi and Hassan Abdal. All centres were locked at 0815 hrs sharp. A large number of police personnel were deployed at centres to prevent any disruption of the examination. Bomb disposal squads and fire brigades were also arranged at centres to counter any unpleasant incident. Besides, close circuit TV (CCTV) cameras, mobile phone jammers and walkthrough gates were installed at all centres. There were proper arrangements for the disabled students, parking and waiting area facilities for the parents of the candidates. Backup power generators were also provided to all centres. 

In Lahore, there were three centres; one at Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Examination Halls at the Lawrence Road where 1149 female and 3017 male candidates appeared, the second centre was established at Punjab University Examination Halls at the Wahdat Road where 4800 female candidates turned up and Government Comprehensive Girls High School Wahdat Road was set up as the third centre where 1542 female candidates appeared.
 
In Rawalpindi, the number of candidates who appeared in the test were 5928, Multan 5359, Faisalabad 3371, Gujranwala 2764, Bahawalpur 1526, Sargodha 1369, Sahiwal 1517, Gujrat 1288, Muzaffargarh 1154, Rahim Yar Khan 933 and in Hassan Abdal 381 candidates appeared in the test.
 
In Lahore, Divisional Commissioner Jawad Rafiq Malik, DCO Noor ul Amin Mengal and other senior officials monitored arrangement.
 
UHS Vice Chancellor Prof. I.A. Naveed said while talking to media that highly scientific and sophisticated method had been adopted to maintain the secrecy of the examination papers and whole process of the test. He made it clear once again that admission to medical colleges would be purely on merit.
 
He further said that medical college admission test was compulsory across the world, both in developed and developing countries. “In India, there shall be a single common entrance test from the next year for admission to 355 medical and 29 dental colleges across the country in which an estimated 10 lakh students are expected to appear”, he informed the media.
 
The candidates who appeared in the test would compete for 3305 MBBS and 216 BDS seats in 16 public sector medical and 03 dental colleges respectively.
 
Besides, there are 3050 MBBS seats available in 28 private sector medical colleges and 715 BDS seats in 12 private dental colleges of the province.
 
The UHS has uploaded the answer keys to the question papers of different coloured codes on its website www.uhs.edu.pk. With the help of these keys, candidates can calculate their scores themselves. The official result will be announced in the first week of October.