Overview
- The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council has issued a fresh notification that withdraws its earlier fee order and makes the fifth year of the five‑year Bachelor of Dental Surgery programme tuition‑free.
- Under the revised policy students will continue to be enrolled for five years but will pay tuition only for the first four years while completing the same courses and graduation requirements in the final year.
- PMDC says the change implements directions from the Senate Standing Committee and separates the programme’s academic duration from the period for which fees are charged.
- The council cited international degree structures, including examples from the United States, to explain why it retained a five‑year BDS curriculum while altering the tuition schedule.
- The move should lower one year of direct tuition costs for dental students but will require colleges to revise billing and compliance processes and could prompt legal or administrative challenges over fee rules.