April 2026

Minimum Service Delivery Standards (MSDS)

Indicator 3: Registered or Raided: The PHC License Every Clinic Must Display

Ensuring that a clinic is properly registered and licensed with the Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) is a legal requirement and a key component of compliance with ROM Standard 1, Indicator 3. This article highlights the importance of obtaining—not merely applying for—a valid PHC license, as illustrated through the real-life experience of Dr. Amna Riaz. It explains the distinction between application, registration, and full licensure under the PHC Act 2010, along with the assessor’s scoring criteria and the necessity of prominently displaying the license both outside and inside the clinic. Designed for clinic owners and healthcare managers in Punjab, this guide provides practical insights to ensure regulatory compliance, avoid legal exposure, and achieve a full score during accreditation assessments.

The Research Clinic: A Doctor’s Journey from Question to Publication

Starting From the End — The Detective’s Study Design

Learn how to design a case-control study, the “detective” approach in Epidemiology, to uncover risk factors behind disease. This guide explains case-control designs, how to calculate the Odds Ratio (OR), and when to use this design for rare diseases or limited resources. Ideal for Pakistani clinicians starting in research, this post breaks down concepts such as recall bias, control selection, and why case-control studies are essential for identifying causes when time and cost are constraints.

Minimum Service Delivery Standards (MSDS)

Indicator 2: Can a Wheelchair Enter Your Clinic? The Access Standard Most Doctors Miss

Struggling with MSDS compliance under the Punjab Healthcare Commission? Indicator 2 of Standard 1 highlights a commonly overlooked issue: wheelchair access to your clinic. A simple barrier, like steps without a ramp, can lower your score and affect patient care. Learn how to meet accessibility requirements with low-cost solutions, improve your MSDS score, and ensure safe, easy entry for elderly and disabled patients.

Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PM&DC)

PM&DC extends faculty amnesty for Basic Sciences and Pediatric Dentistry

PM&DC extends faculty promotion amnesty to address the shortage of PhD-qualified medical educators in Pakistan, allowing Level II-b faculty to advance to Professor without a PhD. The temporary regulatory relief aims to ensure continuity in medical education while aligning institutional needs with national standards. However, the move highlights ongoing concerns about weak doctoral training pipelines and the risk of normalising qualification gaps in the long term.

The Research Clinic: A Doctor’s Journey from Question to Publication

The Photograph That Cannot Lie — And Cannot Explain

A cross-sectional study is the ideal design when your research question asks, “How common is this?” It provides a snapshot in time, measuring both exposure and outcome simultaneously within a defined population. In clinical settings, such as assessing medication compliance among hypertensive patients, this design allows for quick, cost-effective estimation of prevalence without follow-up. However, its key limitation is that it identifies association, not causation—since variables are measured at the same moment, temporal relationships cannot be established. Issues like survivor bias (prevalence-incidence bias) may also affect findings, as only existing cases are captured. Widely used in public health (e.g., national surveys and burden-of-disease estimates), cross-sectional studies are especially valuable for needs assessments, health planning, and hypothesis generation—particularly in resource-limited settings like Pakistan. Bottom line: If your goal is to measure burden or frequency quickly and efficiently, a cross-sectional study is your best starting point.

Minimum Service Delivery Standards (MSDS)

Indicator 1: Your Clinic’s Name on a Board: The Rule That Surprises Every Doctor

Struggling with PHC compliance? Under Standard 1, Indicator 1 (RED), your clinic must display both its name and PM&DC registration number clearly on the signboard visible to a patient before they enter. Missing even one element results in an automatic failure. Learn common mistakes (like unapproved titles and missing credentials), what assessors actually check, and how a simple signboard fix can secure full compliance.

Blog

Low Salaries, Real People: Why UPMED Doesn’t Filter Out the Low-Paying Jobs?

We posted a Medical Officer vacancy at Rs. 40,000–45,000. Some said we are normalising low pay. Others simply wrote, “Shame on you.” Both reactions came from a real place. But so did the dozens of doctors who applied. This is our honest answer to why we post these jobs and why removing them from our board helps no one.

Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PM&DC)

Unrecognized Postgraduate Medical Programs: A Warning from PM&DC

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC), under the PM&DC Act 2022, has issued a critical alert for postgraduate medical aspirants across Pakistan. The council warns that many universities and Degree Awarding Institutions (DAIs) are offering MD, MS, MDS, FCPS, PhD, M.Phil., MPH, and diploma programs without mandatory recognition by the PM&DC under Section 25. According to Sections 34 and 35, operating or enrolling in unrecognised medical or dental programs is illegal and may result in severe penalties, including institutional closure, heavy fines, and imprisonment. Importantly, degrees obtained from such programs after January 16, 2023, cannot be registered with PM&DC—even if approved by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. MBBS and BDS graduates are strongly advised to verify program recognition directly through the official PM&DC website before enrollment. Ensuring PM&DC accreditation is essential to safeguard your medical career, licensing, and future practice in Pakistan.

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