One of the coveted occupations for children in Asian families is the health profession. Do most of the children really want to become medical doctors? The answer is no. Nevertheless, each year, thousands of children are forced to dedicate their lives to a profession they lack aptitude for. In India, there is close competition between engineering and the health profession. The same is true for other Asian countries. However, Pakistan is slightly different, as the health profession is a dominant choice for the middle class. The obvious motivation to push talented minds to this path is economic aspiration and security. This is in line with Karl Marx’s view of a capitalist society, where a human’s life is weighed by his ability to accrue wealth.

There was a time when merit reigned supreme in this profession, and other careers—closely related to medical science, such as pharmacy, nursing, veterinary care, and the like—were pursued by those who were unsuccessful in securing admission to medical colleges. This mad race eventually led to the present-day attrition of the whole healthcare system in Pakistan.

Among the top factors for the sudden degradation of the health profession is the opening of private medical colleges. In 1983, Aga Khan University’s Medical College was established, and it has, unlike other private institutions, maintained a high stature globally to this day. In the 1990s, a few medical colleges were founded, but the PMDC (Pakistan Medical and Dental Council) regulations kept things in check.

Things went downhill in the early 2000s, during President Pervaiz Musharraf’s era, when significant deregulation in multiple sectors, including education, took place. PMDC’s regulations became lax, and getting a license for private medical colleges became easier. Later, an abrupt rise in these private colleges occurred from 2008 to 2013, the era of the Pakistan People’s Party. This period is criticized for political influence and the commercialization of medical education in the country.

In 2012, the PMDC Ordinance further eased the regulations, paving the way for the unabated growth of low-quality medical schools. Resultantly, the merit of MBBS and BDS admissions dropped to a shockingly low level. A profession that took pride in its high merit criteria is accepting candidates with a total aggregate of less than 60%, as evident from the University of Health Sciences’ 2025 merit lists for private medical colleges.

A corollary of numerous medical educational institutions is a sea of medical doctors with substandard education and skills. Many colleges don’t fulfill the prerequisites to train a health professional. To put things into perspective, a significant number of institutions don’t even have cadavers to teach basic anatomy and surgery, a core requirement for a doctor. Likewise, they lack a functioning tertiary hospital with multi-departmental facilities. Emergency services are almost nonexistent.

A proof of this is the fact that a large portion of........

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