MDCAT Mandatory for DPT and Allied Health Sciences Admissions
University of Health Sciences (UHS) has decided to make the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) mandatory for DPT and other Allied Health Sciences (AHS) degrees. Students who want to pursue a career as a physiotherapist or in any other healthcare profession like nurse or paramedic have to take MDCAT now.
Related: MDCAT 2023 Registration [Online Portal]
All the students who want to be admitted to DPT or other AHS degrees must wait for the official MDCAT results. After that, they apply for admission. The classes will start on 15 January each year.
Read: PMDC MDCAT Syllabus 2023 [PDF Download]
The notification also mentioned the merit criteria and other details regarding the studies. The UHS Board of Studies made a lot of decisions regarding students. If you want to know more, continue reading.
Board of Studies meeting
Professor Saqib Mahmood, the head of the AHS department, presided over the 25th meeting of the Board of Studies. In this meeting, they decided that MDCAT is mandatory for admission to DPT and other AHS degrees.
The formula for calculating merit is going to be the same as MBBS or BDS. Here is the merit formula.
| Item | Weightage |
|---|---|
| Matric | 10% |
| Intermediate | 40% |
| MDCAT | 50% |
In the meeting, they also decided to gradually shift all the AHS classes to the semester system. Before this, the degrees were taught in an annual system. Now, students can easily go through tough medical syllabi in small chunks of the semester system.
They also discussed the schedule during this meeting. They will start the classes each year on 15 January.
The board also decided to add IELTS to the curriculum. They made this decision to increase the language proficiency of their graduates. This will eventually increase students’ acceptability in foreign countries, increasing job opportunities.
They also decided that they would make the curriculum skill-based. These are big changes and will have a positive impact.
Importance of Allied Health Sciences
UHS Vice-Chancellor Professor Ahsan Waheed Rathore also emphasized the importance of AHS in our healthcare system. He stated that AHS had been neglected a lot in the past, but not any more.
The world realizes the importance of allied healthcare staff; it is time we do the same. For that, he said that enforcing Allied Health Professionals Council Act 2022 is a revolutionary step. They also decided to only teach AHS programs included in this act.
Parting thoughts
Now, students have a lot of clarity regarding admissions in this field. It is time for you to plan your academic and professional journey. This also increases the importance of MDCAT in admissions now. So, even if you are not interested in MBBS or BDS, you must take this entry test.
We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours. We updated the news regarding MDCAT and other entry tests regularly. So make sure you enable the notifications from us.
