PESHAWAR, Oct 27: The newly-constructed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical College (ZABMC) Peshawar is likely to begin classes in the next three months after getting the infrastructure required for the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council recognition.

`We have completed the process of electrification of building, while the order for furniture and equipment has been placed. Around 40 basic sciences teachers have already been recruited,` a relevant official told Dawn.

According to him, a hostel has also been constructed and PMDC will be requested to carry out inspection of the facilities for permission to admit students.

The official said the provincial health department had also appointed support staff to help the college begin operations and admissions in the current academic session.

In August, around 20,000 people with FSc degrees appeared in the entrance test for admission to 10 public sector medical and dental colleges of the province. There`re a total of 1,280 seats and 100 of them are of ZABMC but the filling of them is subject to the college`s recognition by PMDC.

The establishment of the college was planned by the previous Awami National Party-led government first to cater to the increasing number of students in the province and second to improve patient care.

`The college is on the way to be recognised in a few months despite facing hardships from staff of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH). Once the college is declared a teaching facility for the college, then its professors, associate professors, assistant professors will have to take classes at the college,` an official said.The official said the government`s decision to declare LRH the teaching facility of the college was aimed at using the hospital`s consultants as teachers like their counterparts in other teaching hospitals.

He said clinicians at Khyber MedicalCollege treated patients at Khyber Teaching Hospital, where they had got separate wards.

According to him, the same applied to teachers of Khyber Girls Medical College, who worked in Hayatabad Medical Complex, and Ayub Teaching Hospital was used as teaching facility by Abbottabad Medical College.

`The government has already teachers. It has huge infrastructure for students of the ZABMC,` he said. According to other of ficials, initially, it was decided that the institution management committee of the LRH will make appointments for ZABMC but later, the department agreed to make fresh appointments through public service commission.

They said the department had conducted interviews as the commission was preoccupied with huge workload and the health department wanted to fill senior positions and meet the PMDC criteria.

A senior official said, `there is no looking back, we are well on our way to starting the college towards end of January next year. Even if the college gets recognition in January, its students could catch up with other students whose classes would begin on November 15.

According to entrance test results, 60 students, who were on waiting list for the open seats of the new medical college, will be given admission soon after they fulfil the council`s criteria, while the remaining 40 seats will be offered to students on general and foreign self finance scheme.

When contacted, ZABMC Principal and Project Director Dr Zubair Khan said the college would be ready for the PMDC inspection.

`We have been working fast to put laboratories in place in the line with the PMDC requirements,` he said.

The principal said teachers for physiology, biochemistry, pathology, pharmacy, anatomy and other basic sciences had been recruited as students required to be taught only those subjects up to third MBBS professional year.

He said students would get clinical training and house jobs at LRH.