Pathways for a Medical Career in Pakistan

High School
PMDC (Pakistan
(Pre Med)
Medical and Dental
MCAT
Council) awards the
Medical license to the
Medical Doctors
Medical Education In Punjab, most Medical
1
associated with it. (MBBS) 5 Years colleges are registered with
the University of Health
Sciences (UHS)

Designation: PMDC awards medical

Internship ('House Job") for 1 year
Intern/House license after the
Officer at a teaching hospital completion of 1 year of
2 Internship

3 Designation:
Residency Resident/Post-graduate
Post-graduation/ Post-graduation trainee (PG/PGR)
Other programs 4 training

1 to 3 years
• Diploma,
FCPS Program In Punjab, UHS
MCPS MS/MD Program looks over
under College of under Medical most MD/MS
Physicians and Universities programs
Surgeons Pakistan ~4-5 Years
(CPSP)
For ~ 4-5 Years

5
Senior Registrar and/or
Fellowship 1-2 years
Medical Consultant
 1. If the Medical graduates, after completing their Medical education (MBBS), plan to
pursue a career other than a clinical one, then they may pursue it right after their
graduation. This includes pursuing education and/or research in the basic medical
sciences (e.g. Physiology, Biochemistry etc.) leading up to PhD. Other careers could
include work at Pharmaceutical companies etc.

2. After getting the Medical license, the Doctors can also work as Medical Officers (i.e.
working as Medical Doctors at Medical facilities without pursuing a Medical
Residency) and/or they can start their private GP practice as well.

3. The Residency programs require the candidates to take an exam. In the case of FCPS,
the candidates have to pass an exam known as FCPS Part 1 exam. Upon completing
their residency, they have to pass the FCPS Part 2 exam to complete their FCPS
certification. The other route to the Medical residency could be programs offered by
Universities at teaching hospitals – they are called MD Programs if they’re in a field
of Medicine and MS (Master of Surgery) Programs if they’re related to the field of
Surgery. These programs also require the candidates to go through a selection
criteria based on entrance exams and interviews.

4. After passing FCPS Part I exam, the candidates can apply to various teaching
hospitals for the residency (provided those residency programs are approved by the
CPSP). For the MD/MS programs, each university takes its own exams for the
residency (however since most teaching hospitals in Punjab are affiliated with the
UHS, its exam for the MD/MS program applies to a number of teaching hospitals).
On the other hand, residency positions in the government hospitals of Punjab are
regulated by the government of Punjab through a ‘central induction’ system wherein
the candidates are selected based for various residency programs in various
government hospitals based on score based criteria.

5. Doctors who have completed their Medical training (residency +/- fellowship) can be
hired either directly as a Medical Consultant or as a Senior Registrar (for some
unspecified duration after which they may be promoted as a Medical Consultant at
the same hospital or they may opt for another Hospital to acquire this position
earlier, if they can get an opportunity for it; Senior Registrars also take part in
overlooking the Residency programs).

Prepared by Dr. Syed Talha Shah

Talhashah0092@gmail.com