LAHORE: Failure of almost all students of the MS/MD in the annual examination 2024 in various disciplines of the King Edward Medical University has exposed the bitter rivalry between the FCPS degree holding medics and those having MS/MD degrees and alleged discrimination by the former against the latter.

The postgraduate degree programme of the public sector medical universities in Punjab suffered a major dent after all the students of the MS/MD, except one, failed.

It is said to be an unprecedented result of the KEMU since it began offer-ing admissions to its own four and five years major degree programmes the Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Master of Science (MS).

Announced a few days back, the `unexpected` results have triggered another heated debate on the `discrimination` towards the Punjab government`s own programme when the MS/MD degree holders and the students blamed that supervisors/examiners, having FCPS degrees, were targeting them to promote the rival level IH qualification FCPS of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP).

An official privy to the information says there is hue and cry everywhere at the KEMU and its attached Mayo Hospital as the MS/MD students declared the result as the worst discrimination meted out to them to retain the monopoly of the FCPS.

He says the affectees raised a pertinent question that when the MD/MS and the FCPS candidates were getting training in the same ward, under the same supervisors, why the failure rate of the former (MS/MD) was so high as com-pared to the FCPS students.

The official says the demand is being made at the KEMU-Mayo Hospital that if all the students were ineligible to clear the post-graduation exams in various disciplines, the examiners/supervisors havingthe CPSPbackground should alsobe sackedforproducingthepathetieresults in MD/MS final exams.

Following the heated debate of the last three days or so, the official adds, the MS/MD degree-holder teachers and the students have come up with suggestions to end the monopoly of the examiners/ supervisors having the FCPS background.

Sharing background to the issue, he says the doctors possessing MS/MD and the students enrolled in this programme have long been suffering due to the CPSP, which is running the rival FCPS allegedly to maintain its monopoly over the government institutions by producing majority of the postgraduates with this degree programme. According to him, the students appearing in MD/MS are facing uncertainty every year as a majority of their examiners are theFCPS degree holders.

In the recent results, the KEMU`s all the MD/MS students who appeared in examination of various disciplines, including MS plastic surgery Part-II (intermediate examination) first annual examination 2024; MD (internal medicine) final examination 2023, held in March 2024; MD pulmonologist final annual examination 2024 and MS neurosurgery final annual examination 2024, have been declared failed.

Similarly, all the candidates, except one, who appeared in MS general surgery Part-II (intermediate examination) first annual examination 2024, have been declared failed.

There are reports that all the students had passed the written examination but they were declared failed for not clearing viva, the official informs.

The candidates have sought immediate intervention of the Punjab government to investigate the results on the basis of two key points; first, why the doctors having FCPS degrees are always appointed as examiners/ supervisors for the training of the MD/MS students; second, how all the examiners holding the FCPS degrees and sitting in the viva `unanimously decided` that all the candidates who passed MD/MS written/theory were ineligible to get viva marks to pass the exams.

According to the source, the students put the blame on the FCPS holder senior medics enjoying the top major administrative positions at the KEMU, including those of the vice chancellor and dean of postgraduate degree programme, to be behind the new examination crisis.

KEMU Vice Chancellor Prof Mahmood Ayaz has rejected the allegations of victimisation and supported his faculty members/examiners, saying that they were neither biased nor discouraging to the MD/MS programme.

Talking to Dawn, he says there was a fault in the examination system that, according to him, led to the recent pathetic result of the MS/MD students. He claims that he has sought an audit ofthe examination results from the pro-vice chancellor, dean of the postgraduate degree programmes and the registrar to further dig out the facts and address the issue.

To a question about the appointments of the supervisors having FCPS degrees, the KEMU VC claims that the MS/MD degree holder senior medics were not available in the required number to replace the formers.

`Besides, being the VC of the KEMU and a teacher, I took some initiatives to address the chronic issue of the MS/ MD students by initiating a new proposal,` Prof Ayaz says.

He adds that the KEMU has proposed some amendments to the old rules of the university to change the allocated marks of the written exams and the viva.

`In the earlier setting/ system, the MD/MS candidates used to get 50pc marks to pass the written exams and 65-70 marks for viva. Now the amendments have been proposed that only those getting 50pc marks in each exam, the written as well as viva, would be declared passed,` Mr Mahmood explains.

He says that the recommendations in this regard have been approved and forwarded by the Board of Studies Medicine and the Board of Studies Surgery to place it in the Academic Council of the KEMU.

After getting approval by the council, the same would be put up in the meeting of the Syndicate and then in the Senate of the university, he says, adding that then the recommendations would be sent to the Punjab governor amendments in the rules for final consideration.