Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC): Registration and NRE

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) regulates the medical and dental professions in Pakistan. It registers and licenses doctors and dentists, recognises institutions and qualifications, runs the MDCAT entrance test and the National Registration Examination (NRE), and handles complaints about professional conduct. It describes itself as the successor of the Pakistan Medical Commission.

For the full country picture, see Working as a Doctor in Pakistan.

Key facts

What the PMDC does

Based on the PMDC website, its main functions are:

• Registration and licensing of doctors and dentists through an online portal, including credentialing and verification.
• Verification services, such as attestation of licences, Certificates of Good Standing and verification of practical experience for bodies like ECFMG/EPIC.
• Institutions: recognition of colleges and universities, lists of recognised institutions and qualifications, and accreditation standards.
• Public registers to search doctors, faculty and students.
• Complaints of professional negligence or misconduct against licensed doctors.
• Exams: MDCAT for admission to medical and dental colleges, and the NRE.

The PMDC homepage showed 366,443 registered practitioners in October 2026, of them 325,523 medical and 40,920 dental. Check the live counter for the current figure.

Registration

Registration runs through the PMDC online portal. For graduates of foreign institutions, PMDC's registration regulations set out a two-stage model:

Doctors who already hold a licence abroad must still pass the NRE for full registration in Pakistan.

The National Registration Examination (NRE)

Under the PMDC Act, the Council must hold the NRE at least twice a year on an approved schedule, passing it is mandatory for full registration, and candidates may attempt it without limit.

PMDC's 2024 standard, structure and syllabus document describes the medical NRE as two components:

• a theory component (multiple-choice questions);
• a skill-based Clinical Skills Examination (CSE).

The same document states that a passed theory component stays valid for five years, and the CSE must be passed within five years of passing the theory component. On its portals PMDC refers to the parts as NRE Step I and later steps. For the October 2026 NRE, the portal listed September 15, 2026 as the last date to apply for Step I.

Read the current syllabus and notice for your session before you start preparing, because PMDC updates structures and labels.

MDCAT and studying abroad

The MDCAT is PMDC's admission test for medical and dental colleges, with its own registration portal. If you plan to study medicine abroad and return, PMDC policy guidelines say you must obtain a PMDC Student Registration Certificate before proceeding abroad, and you will need to pass the NRE to get a licence.

Step-by-step for foreign graduates

1. Before going abroad: get the PMDC Student Registration Certificate.
2. Choose a recognised institution. Check PMDC's lists of recognised institutions and qualifications.
3. After graduation: apply for verification and provisional registration for house job.
4. Register for NRE Step I on the NRE portal within the deadline.
5. Pass the theory component and the CSE within the validity window.
6. Apply for full registration on the PMDC portal.

The theory component rewards steady question practice. The MediFlow app helps you build that habit in short daily sessions.

Typical mistakes

• Skipping the Student Registration Certificate before going abroad.
• Assuming a foreign licence replaces the NRE. It doesn't.
• Letting the theory pass expire before completing the CSE.
• Missing portal deadlines. NRE registration windows are short and sometimes extended or rescheduled.
• Using outdated rules from the Pakistan Medical Commission era.

Fees

PMDC publishes fees for registration, verification and the NRE on its portals and notices. Amounts change, so check the current notice before paying.

Contact and official links

• PMDC: pmdc.pk
• Registration portal: portal.pmdc.pk
• NRE portal: nre.pmdc.pk
• MDCAT portal: mdcat.pmdc.pk
• Complaints: complaints.pmdc.pk

Use the contact details published on pmdc.pk. Our next read: Working as a Doctor in Pakistan.