Medical miseducation

In another example of the problems plaguing our education system, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has had to warn the public about 10 universities that are offering postgraduate medical programmes without mandatory accreditation. The list includes public universities, which raises further concern, as public universities should not be trying to make a quick buck by peddling what are effectively fake degrees. Also notable is the geographic spread - from Multan to Karachi to DI Khan to Muzaffarabad – which suggests that this is no isolated oversight but a systemic failure. It is disappointing, at the very least, that despite all of the supposed checks and balances in place, which have left honest actors running from pillar to post to get legitimate documentation and other works processed, universities are still able to set up and operate questionable degree programmes for several years and face almost no consequences. At the same time, we cannot forget the adage that a fool and his money are easily parted - a degree from an unaccredited programme is worthless, so students and their families should make sure that any programmes they are applying to are recognised. This is not very difficult, as most universities publicly post their accreditation information, and accrediting bodies typically offer free, user-friendly tools for cross-checking. In the case of medical institutes, the process is even easier, because while some universities can claim they are seeking accreditation while still admitting students, medical programmes must be fully accredited before students can be registered. That said, oversight bodies regularly fail to do their jobs. A parliamentary committee was previously informed that 15 medical colleges were registered without inspection during the PTI era, and over 50 nursing schools were found to be substandard. In a country where the health sector is already in disarray, mismanagement and deceptive degree offerings will only compound the problems.