Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) President Prof. Dr. Rizwan Taj has said he is hopeful about the early recognition of the regulator’s accreditation programme by the World Federation for Medical Education after the fulfilment of all mandatory requirements.
He was speaking during an online meeting with WFME President Prof. Ricardo León-Bórquez and his team at the PMDC secretariat on Wednesday. The participants included VC of the Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University Prof. Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Khan, HOD of the Medical Education Department, Shifa College of Medicine, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Prof. Dr. Riffat Shafi,
Dr. Naveed Yousuf of the Department for Educational Development Aga Khan University, Dr. Usman Mahboob of the Institute of Health Professions Education & Research, Khyber Medical University, PMDC director (legal affairs) Saira Rubab and Manager Assessment Medical Education Department Dr. Muhammad Suleman Sadiq. The WFME is a global association that develops standards for medical education and promotes the accreditation of medical schools around the world.
The meeting was held to further improve understanding and ties between the WFME and the PMDC, and discuss the way forward for the PMDC recognition by the WFME. The PMDC president said his organisation was taking significant steps for its international recognition. He said to safeguard the future of doctors who wanted to go abroad for work or training, the PMDC, after completing the mandatory requirements to be eligible for WFME recognition of its accreditation programme, had applied to the WFME for recognition.
Prof. Dr. Rizwan Taj said the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council had constituted the WFME Accreditation Cell comprising experts from all over the country and conducted several meetings for extensive deliberation on the WFME requirements for recognition. The PMDC members asked queries that were responded to by the WFME president and Recognition Programme Project Manager Jana Cohlova. The PMDC president assured them that he and his team would do the needful to expedite the process of its accreditation programme’s recognition by the world body. The meeting ended with a note of thanks from him.
