45156 candidates appeared in medical and dental colleges’ entrance test

Lahore: As many as 45156 candidates (30575 female and 14581 male) appeared in medical and dental colleges’ entrance test which was conducted by the University of Health Sciences (UHS) Lahore, simultaneously in 13 cities of the Punjab, amid tight security, on Sunday. Last year, 41,677 candidates appeared in the test.

Despite tension at the Constitution Avenue, Islamabad, more than 5000 candidates appeared at 4 centres established at 6^th Road in Rawalpindi. The test, started at 0900 hrs, went of peacefully at 25 centres set up in Lahore, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Gujrat, Gujranwala Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Multan, D.G.Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Rawalpindi, Sialkot and Hasan Abdal. Candidates started reaching their centres as early as 6 o’clock in the morning.

A large number of police personnel were deployed at the centres to prevent any disruption of the examination. Ambulances and fire brigades were also made available at the centres to counter any untoward incident. Besides, close circuit TV (CCTV) cameras, mobile phone jammers and walk-through gates were installed at all the centres. There were proper arrangements for the disabled students, parking and waiting area facilities for the parents of the candidates. Back-up power generators were also provided at most of the centres.

The candidates and parents expressed their satisfaction on the arrangement made by UHS and the provincial government. Parents were seen reciting Holy Quran for the success of their children. No untoward incident was reported during the course of the test.

In Lahore, DG Health Dr Zahid Pervaiz, DG Population Qaisar Saleem, Members Board of Revenue Javed Nisar Syed, Hassan Raza Jafari, Malik Ahmed Ali and Tariq Mehmood Khan, Additional Commissioner Revenue Asif Iqbal, District Coordination Officer Capt (R) Muhammad Usman and other senior officials monitored the arrangements for a total of 9198 female and 4176 male candidates who appeared in the test at six centres; at the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education examination halls at Lawrence Road where 3400 female candidates appeared, at the Punjab University examination halls at Wahdat Road where 4000 female and 800 male candidates turned up, at the Government Comprehensive Girls High School and Government Central Model School Lower Mall where 1542 female and 1970 male candidates appeared respectively. At University of Education, Lower Mall 1170 male and at Government Pilot High School Wahdat Road, 256 female and 236 male candidates took the test.

In Rawalpindi,  5721 candidates appeared in the test. The number of candidates in Multan was 6575, Faisalabad 4423, Gujranwala 2671, Bahawalpur 2051, Sargodha 1845 Sahiwal 2281, Gujrat 1377, D.G. Khan 1426, Rahim Yar Khan 1261, Hasan Abdal 646 and in Sialkot 1505 candidates appeared in the test.

Talking to media on this occasion, UHS Vice Chancellor Maj Gen (R) Prof Muhammad Aslam said that medicine and dentistry attract the most brilliant students every year and these students demand a system that is duly probing, robust and fair.

“UHS has tried to make the process structured and transparent which is regularly reviewed to ensure that only suitable and capable candidates are admitted”, he said adding that UHS believed that all candidates should have an equal opportunity to show their suitability for the MBBS and BDS programmes.

Prof Aslam further said that entry to the medical and dental profession is based on the principles of merit, justice, equity and transparency.

Meanwhile, the UHS uploaded the answer keys to the question papers of different colour 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 within 10 days.

In the next stage, those candidates who will score 82 per cent or above aggregate marks in accordance with the formula of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, will opt for the colleges of their choice by submitting admission forms from September 23 to October 02. These forms, along with the Prospectus, will be available free of cost from UHS, Lahore, Nishter Medical College, Multan, and Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi, during the said dates. The first selection list for medical colleges will be displayed on October 30.