1

GUIDE FOR
MBBS IN
PAKISTAN
FOR GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE MEDICAL
COLLEGES IN PUNJAB

The information mentioned in this document is for guidance only and

should NOT be considered FINAL unless confirmed with IBCC, UHS
and HEC (in case their policy changes)
 Discussion On
2

SSC equivalence
HSSC equivalence
How Aggregate Score for Government Medical Colleges is calculated
How Aggregate Score for Private Medical Colleges (excluding AKU) is calculated
Comparison of Government Medical Colleges and Private Medical Colleges
(excluding AKU)
Medicine in Foreign Countries
MCAT
Merit List for Government Medical Colleges 2012 and 2011
Important Notice for Foreign Nationals
Important Notice for students who gave Olevels in a Foreign Country
Important Note on Preference List and Backup

The information mentioned in this document is for guidance

only and should NOT be considered FINAL unless confirmed with
IBCC, UHS and HEC (in case their policy changes)
 SSC EQUIVALENCE
(OLEVEL)
3

SSC equivalence is from 800 marks

Calculate your O level marks for 8 subjects

Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, Urdu (doesnt matter 1st or 2nd language), Mathematics, Islamiat
and Pakistan studies

90 for A*, 85 for A, 75 for B, 65 for C, 55 for D

Add all your marks

Me (7A* and 1A)
(7*90) + (1*85)

=715

Divide your new total by 800 and then multiply by 900

715/800 into 900 =804
you will get your olevel equivalence

mine was 804/900

89.4%

YOU MUST GIVE ALL 8 SUBJECTS IN 1 SESSION, OR IN 2 SESSIONS WITH A MAXIMUM OF 1

YEAR GAP BETWEEN THE TWO SESSIONS (LIKE JUNE 2010 AND JUNE 2011)
NOT JUNE 2010 AND NOVEMBER 2011 (AS THE TIME DIFFERENCE WOULD BE GREATER THAN

1 YEAR)
 HSSC EQUIVALENCE
(OLEVEL + ALEVEL)
4

HSSC equivalence is out of 1100 marks. 800 marks come from Olevels and
only 300 from Alevels. This is because Fsc marks are out of 1100.

ADD YOUROLEVEL TOTAL FROM 800 (NOT 900) + 3 subjects from A level
(Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
The rest of subjects like AICT, Mathematics DO NOT COUNT

90 for A*, 85 for A, 75 for B, 65 for C, 55 for D

Add all your marks

Me 3A*(in Physics, Chemistry and Biology) in Alevels. So, 270 out of 300
715 out of 800 from Olevels

HSSC score is 715 + 270= 985

This is youre HSSC equivalence 985/1100
89.54%
 AGGREGATE SCORE FOR GOVERNMENT MEDICAL
COLLEGES
5
SSC equivalence counts 10%
HSSC equivalence counts 40%(IM SURE YOU NOW KNOW OLEVEL GRADES COUNT A
WAY LOT IN YOUR HSSC EQUIVALENCE)
UHS MCAT 50%

Divide your SSC equivalence percentage by 10, lets call the answer asS
89.4/10
So,S= 8.94

Divide your HSSC equivalence by 1100 and multiply by 40, lets call the answer asH
985/1100 into 40
So,H= 35.81

AddSandH. Suppose the answer isT

8.94+35.81
So,T= 44.75

Subtract the answerTfrom 86%. The answer is supposeM

86% is your FINAL AGGREGATE THAT YOU SHOULD AIM FOR
86-44.75 = 41.25

Now divideMby 50 and multiply by 1100. This will tell you the minimum marks that you must get in MCAT
41.25/50 into 1100 = 908
So, 908 marks are needed from 1100 in the UHS MCAT. Look even with 997 in MCAT out of 1100, I had the 404th
position in the MCAT test. So, 403 students scored higher than me in MCAT test.
 AGGREGATE SCORE FOR
PRIVATE MEDICAL COLLEGES
6
IN LAHORE
This includes CMH, Fatima memorial, LMDC and Sheikh Zayed
For CMH merit this year (2012) was close to 80%. So to get admission, you
must get 80% or above as your aggregate score. In 2011 it was close to 76%

The aggregate score for CMH is calculated by

SSC equivalence counts 10%

HSSC equivalence counts 40% (IM SURE YOU NOW KNOW OLEVEL GRADES
COUNT A WAY LOT IN YOUR HSSC EQUIVALENCE)
UHS MCAT 37.5%
CMH Test 12.5%

I am not sure about the test percentage for LMDC etc (ask them)

UHS MCAT is necessary for getting admission into any private or

government medical college in Punjab
 COMPARISON OF GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE
MEDICAL COLLEGES (EXCLUDING AKU)
7

COST
Whole 5 years MBBS in a Government Medical College will cost 1.5 lakh rupee without hostel

(Rs.30,000 ANNUAL fee)

Whole 5 years MBBS in a Private Medical College in Lahore will cost around 30 lacs for 5 years

without hostel (annual fee would be 6 lacs).

For Punjab government medical colleges, if you are offered a job by the Punjab government, then
you must serve the government for 5 years (including 2 years in a rural area) or pay Rs.5 lakh bond
So, total cost for government medical colleges becomes 6.5 lakh
The 23.5 lacs you save over 5 years can be used to go abroad for specialization after MBBS.

PATIENTS
In government medical colleges usually there is a greater variety of patients considering age, type

of disease, stage of disease and cultural/social backgrounds. This is because treatment in

government hospitals is cheaper as compared to private medical hospitals
The greater exposure you have to these patients, the better it gets. You will be able to guess causes

of disease/injury from the type of job the patient does or their environmental surrounding etc
Also you will get more opportunities at practicing the difficult medical operations (while being

supervised by a senior) etc

 MEDICINE IN FOREIGN COUNTIRES

IF YOU ARE A PAKISTANI NATIONALY ONLY

UK: 30-35 lakhs each year for 4 years

Australia: 50 lakhs per year for 7-8 years. Dont know about financial aid/ scholarship. There is a
pre-medical bachelors, followed by MCAT and then MBBS

Hong Kong: Impossible as you must know Cantonese language from year 1 for MBBS (the
language requirement is for MBBS course only, not for BDS or engineering courses)

US: If you get financial aid then probably 10-15 lakh per year for 8-9 years. There is a pre-medical
bachelors, followed by MCAT and then MBBS. I have heard of only one Pakistani pursuing medicine
in USA

Canada:Maths in Alevels is a must for every Canadian degree for almost all degrees
except Literature and History.
You cant apply there if you dont have Maths in Alevels There is a pre-medical bachelors,
followed by MCAT and then MBBS. A total of 7-8 years. With no aid, it costs 25 lakh a year

Middle East: (American campuses) They are expensive (40 lakh per year if you dont get aid),
they dont give much aid). There is a pre-medical bachelors, followed by MCAT and then MBBS. The
aid if given can be scrapped
 IMPORTANT NOTE
9

Have you obtained your SSC equivalence certificate from IBCC?

If not, you need to get that made as soon as possible. IBCC can take a lot of time for

it. When you're A Level result comes out, you'll need equivalence for that too.
(Make an urgent equivalence for HSSC, so you dont miss the deadline).Until and

unless you have the SSC equivalence, they wont process your HSSC
equivalence. You cant give both of these for processing simultaneously.

Where is your domicile from?

You can NOT apply to government colleges of Punjab, if you have a domicile from

Sindh. Usually, your domicile is from where you are born. Have it made and check it.
There are some inter-provincial seats through which you can transfer your admission

from one province to another. But Im not aware of the procedure.

 WHAT IS THE MCAT
10

What is the UHS MCAT entrance test based on?

The entrance test is based on the FSC books entirely. There's a syllabus given for the MCAT by
UHS. You can check out the next year's syllabus on their website. The content, however,
willALWAYS be from FSC, remember that. So you'll need to go over the FSC books. Buy the
Punjab Textbook Board books for year 2013 (wait until June 2013 so they are available on the
market). There's no alternative to the FSC books.
On average, 30,000 people appear for the MCAT each year. Only 3000 get into government
universities. The best government colleges are in Lahore with around maybe 800 seats.

What is the format for the UHS entrance test, is it all MCQ questions?
They are 220 MCQs. 30 from English, 44 from Physics, 58 from Chemistry and 88 from Biology.
Each correct answer scores +5, each wrong one scores -1(negative marking), and a question
unanswered gives you a zero.

I'll be giving finishing the whole A levels in June 2013 and so when will the entrance
test dates be announced?
UHS announced the official date in August. But it's held in the month of September each year
so you should prepare according to that.
 HOW TO PREPARE FOR
11
MCAT
When should you start preparing for MCAT?
Right after Alevel exams. I would say go to Kips Johar town branch (I havent heard much good about other
branches. The Johar town branch is the main branch).
KIPS academy started on 15th June, my last exam was of Physics on 14th June
You should register before it (a week earlier to save reserve your seat). The two month course will probably cost
16,000rs. Please register for the MCAT session not the NUMCAT. (NUMCAT is for UHS MCAT and NUST entry test.
Both the NUST entry test and UHS entry test are from FSC, but the UHS has a significantly reduced syllabus.NUST
entry test is whole of FSC, which NO A LEVEL student can do. By the way, NUMCAT also cost 20,000rs,
that is 4000rs more).So be sensible and take only UHS MCAT session.)

Take the morning session 6am-11am (so you have time to get back home, take some rest and then study). Kips has
its own daily tests which are hardBUT they are sort of like questions expected when you give the MCAT.
The important thing is being able to have an idea of the sort of questions to expect. Sometimes you
feel that a fact or figure is not important, but it is important and a question can be made from it.

They are 60 questions in each KIPS test. I would answer the ones I didnt know and leave the ones i didnt know.
Next day, when the teacher came to tell the answers for discussion, I would write all the questions which I got
wrong/left and their answers in my notebook (you should do this).

Alternatively 5-6 friends can divide these 60 questions amongst themselves and instead of doing the test in class
you can copy these questions 10 each to cover all of these. Then you can get your respective questions
photocopied and exchanged and solve them at home.

THIS IS SO BECAUSE KIPS DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO TAKE THE QUESTION SHEET WITH YOUU TO YOUR
HOME. SORRY!

How should I prepare for the test? Any books that you can recommend.
FSC books. You need to learn them thoroughly.EACH AND EVERY FIGURE, FACT, EVERYTHING. And there are
plenty of practice books available that you could buy to practice MCQs for MCAT. I didnt use any of them. As far the
KIPS Entry Test Series (also known as KETS) is concerned, I would say dont buy it (just get the English word list at
the end of English KETS book photocopied from someone who has bought the series or ask from a senior,
alternatively ask a friend from star academy etc. Star academy gave a list of these 870 words and their meanings).
 Merit List 2012 for Government
Medical Colleges in LAHORE
12

FOR LOCAL CANDIDATES ONLY

Medical College in Lahore 2012 % 2011 %

King Edward Medical 90.0039 87.55
University
Allama Iqbal Medical College 88.2342 85.93
Services Institute of Medical 87.0152 84.39
Science
Fatima Jinnah Medical College 86.5108 84.22
(FOR FEMALE CANDIDATES
ONLY)
The last merit inPunjabin
Ameeruddin 2012 was84.3615%
Medical College 86.0117 ofThis
DG Khan.
college was
established in
On average we had an average 2% increase in2012
merit from 2011 to
2012
 FOREIGN NATIONALS
13
If you have a foreign passport, you can apply to the reserved seats for foreign candidates in the
government medical universities. There are around 4 reserved seats in KEMU and AIMC each and 2 in
SIMS. So, in Lahore there are 10 reserved seats.
The fees will be higher than those paid by local students, though (about $10,000 a year).
You must contact HEC or Pakistan Technical Assistance Project by July (after Alevel exams) to register
Do confirm this with HEC

Your aggregate score is calculated by

10% SSC
40% HSSC
50% SAT 2 (Physics, Chemistry and Biology)
The 3rd highest merit for foreign nationals this year was around 89%.
You MUST also get 60% in MCAT (this is a requirement even if you apply for foreign seat on
basis of SAT2 score)

Your aggregate score can also be calculated by another procedure (if you dont give SAT2)
10% SSC
40% HSSC
50% MCAT

Since scoring high scores is easier in SAT2 than the MCAT, foreign nationals should prefer giving SAT2.
 STUDENTS WHO GAVE CIE EXAMS IN
COUNTRY OTHER THAN PAKISTAN
14

All Pakistani nationals appearing for examinations from

Pakistan shall have to pass Urdu, Islamiyat, Pakistan
Studies and Mathematics along with other required
subjects to qualify for equivalence.
If a Pakistani/dual national candidate studies and
appears for examination from abroad, Urdu, Islamiyat
and Pakistan Studies will not be considered compulsory
requirements.

Some candidates give Olevels from a foreign country

but give Alevels from Pakistan
In that case, these students MUST give 8 subjects in
Olevels (Pakistan Studies, Islamiyat and Urdu) instead
of 5
 PREFERENCE LIST AND
15
BACKUP
Please make sure you list at least 8-10 medical colleges in your UHS
application preference list.
You WILL NOT BE considered for the colleges you have not named.
Sometimes students do not make the merit of the colleges they have
named, and thus their admission in government medical colleges stands
annulled
There are people who only named 3 medical colleges and failed to make it
into any of these. Although if they had named the fourth one, they would
have made it into that college.

Keep a backup choice. DO apply to CMH, LMDC, Fatima Memorial and Shifa
etc
It may take a few thousand rupees, but if you dont make it into government
medical colleges, at least you have a backup of your own choice
There are students who thought they would make it into government
medical colleges but failed. They hadn't applied to any private medical
colleges and thus were forced to take a gap year
THANKYOU