LAHORE: The University of Health Sciences (UHS) is all set to conduct the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) on Sunday (Sept 10) at 29 centres set up in 11 cities of the province in which over 67,000 candidates will take the test.
The question papers and other sensitive examination materials were dispatched to various cities on Friday amid tight security arrangements. The material will be secured in the treasury offices of various districts till Sunday, a UHS spokesman said.
In Lahore, around 19,000 candidates, Multan 13,600, Gujranwala 4,000, Bahawalpur 5,000, Faisalabad 7,500, DG Khan 3,000, Gujrat 1,700, Sargodha 3,000, Sialkot 2,500 and Rawalpindi 3300 and in Sahiwal 3700 candidates will appear in the test. The Punjab government has appointed around 5,000 supervisory and invigilation staff whereas UHS has deputed senior faculty members of the university as head couriers and couriers for conducting the test. The Vice-Chancellors, pro-vice-chancellors, principals, and senior faculty members of government medical institutions in relevant cities will monitor the examination while officers of the Specialized Health Care and Medical Education department, deputy commissioners will supervise the arrangements.
The MDCAT exam will start at 10:00 a.m. Examination centres will be opened for the candidates at 8:00 a.m. and sealed at 9:00 a.m. after which no one will be allowed to enter. The duration of the exam will be three and a half hours and it will conclude at 1.30 p.m.
The minimum qualifying marks for admission to MBBS are 55pc and for BDS, 50pc. The question paper will have 200 multiple choice questions including Biology 68, Chemistry 54, Physics 54, English 18, and Logical Reasoning 6 questions as per the curriculum notified by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC), the UHS spokesman added.
In this regard, UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore said that Chief Minister Punjab had directed all concerned departments to make immaculate arrangements for smooth and flawless conduct of the admission test. He said that district police officers would be responsible for the security and deployment of police personnel at the test centres. He added that emergency healthcare services would be ensured at all centres which would include fully equipped ambulances, doctors along with paramedical staff, and necessary medicines.
The UHS VC warned that there would be zero tolerance for the use of unfair means in the test. He said that candidates must bring with them the printout of their admittance card as well as their original CNIC/NICOP/JC/Passport/B-Form. He added that there would be biometric verification of candidates at each centre by NADRA teams.
Meanwhile, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Health Secretary Ali Jan Khan, in which arrangements for the MDCAT exam were reviewed. He said that MDCAT was perhaps the department’s biggest activity of the year and, therefore, any kind of lapse in terms of arrangements would not be tolerated.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
Comments
Comments are closed.