ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has formulated a policy under which faculty members cannot leave medical and dental colleges before completing a mandatory three-year tenure.

The policy has been implemented with an immediate effect to ensure that students do not suffer due to the frequent change of teachers.

An official of the PMDC requesting not to be identified said whenever a new medical or dental collegestarted working it announced a very handsome package to attract teachers to fulfil the mandatory list of faculty members for the registration process.

`Because of the attractive offers, a number of faculty members leave their institutions in the middle of semesters and join the new institutes.

As a result, the students suffer.

The official said the PMDC had received complaints that faculty members simultaneously worked in more than one institution so it was decided to make a policy. Now medical colleges have to submit the lists of faculty members every year, he added.

The decision was taken by the executive committee of the PMDC binding the faculty members not to move from one institution to another before completing three years. All the recognised colleges have been directed to follow the policy with animmediate effect. The decision will be applicable on all existing faculty as well as new appointments.

However, the faculty members can leave the institution if their status was upgraded because of the experience or research work and the institution concerned does not want to offer them the upgraded post.

A faculty member can also leave the institution if they want to avail the leave preparatory to retirement (LPR) or reach the age of 70 years.

Moreover, a teacher can also leave if his institution submits an assurance that it would not create deficiency of the faculty members in the institution.

The executive committee has also said if a faculty member was relieved of the job because of some negligence or unavoidable circumstances, the matter has to be submitted in the PMDC which would issue a no objection certificate.Talking to mediapersons, PMDC Registrar Dr Shaista Faisal said the policy was devised l
`This extreme step has been taken keeping in view the betterment of the medical education that faculty once appointed in any medical or dental college must remain there for at least three years otherwise migration of faculty will defiantly affect the existing academic status of the institutes which are already deficient of faculty.

She said the PMDC had been concentrating on issues faced by students and the serving doctors.

`A cell has been established for the registration of doctors and verification of their certificates. Because of the establishment of the cell, the registration and verification process has become easy,` she said.