The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council has withheld renewal of registration of several thousand doctors by a sudden change in its rules. It has decreed that each doctor must attend 40 days of re-education classes, held at only three or four points in Pakistan. This new clause for renewal of registration is a good step in its spirit, but the method of its enforcement is totally wrong. There are thousands of doctors working in every corner of Pakistan, some of them at very inaccessible places and it is impossible for them all to go to Karachi, Islamabad or Lahore. These re-education classes must be held at every District Headquarters Hospital of the country to make them practical.
The PMDC must allow a 3-year moratorium on the refresher clause to get things ready. If the PMDC sticks to its immediate enactment demand, then thousand of doctors will become disqualified and the void created will be filled by unqualified quacks, who are already wreaking havoc. Moreover senior doctors, above 60 should be exempted from this clause as they cannot be burden with this renewal and they have already acquired a wealth of clinical knowledge and practice. NADRA has exempted 65-year olds from CNIC renewals, so the PM&DC must do the same. The PM&DC is requested to clear its backlog of registration renewal cases immediately and let the doctor’s work in peace.
KALEEMULLAH,
Muzaffargarh, May 8.