Students of Fatima Memorial Hospital College of Medicine & Dentistry (FMHCM&D) held a demonstration on 17 September 2026 against the rising cost of medical education, notably the fee structure of the college, and demanded the withdrawal of the fee hike by FMH.
According to the details, PMDC issued a tuition fee notification on 11 March 2026, approving revised annual tuition fee caps for private medical and dental institutions and restricting these institutions to not take fee above the capped value. Under the notification, the approved annual tuition fee cap for FMH was set at Rs 2,052,099. However, according to reports, FMH’s published fee structure for local students for the 2025-26 session lists annual dues of Rs 2.5 million for the first year of MBBS. The fee rises to Rs 2.625 million in the second year, Rs 2.756 million in the third, Rs 2.894 million in the fourth, and Rs 3.039 million in the fifth year. The total listed dues over the five-year programme amount to approximately Rs 13.81 million.
The difference between the PMDC-approved cap and the fee listed by FMH has raised concerns among students regarding the affordability of private medical education. The issue also comes amid a decline in the number of students appearing for the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT). According to figures reported by Dawn, the number of MDCAT candidates fell from 204,253 in 2022 to approximately 138,000 in 2026, representing a decline of around 32%. In KP, registrations similarly fell from 46,232 in 2022 to around 38,000 in 2026. Of the many reasons for the decline, the issue of high fees has the greatest impact, with medical fees now unaffordable even for upper-middle-class families.
Students have raised concerns over the rise in the cost and duration of medical education in the face of alternative career options and the falling number of MDCAT candidates. Over 743 MBBS/BDS seats went unfilled in the 2025-26 admission cycle, following which the PMDC relaxed the MDCAT passing score criteria for this cycle by three percentage points to facilitate the filling of vacant seats.
Condemning the fee hike, Progressive Students Collective (PSC) President Ali Abdullah Khan expressed unconditional solidarity with the protesting students and demanded the withdrawal of the fee increase by FMH. He also raised concerns regarding the psychological pressure faced by medical students and said that education has been made a commodity in this country, rendering it inaccessible to millions of students. He also demanded the restoration of student unions and an end to restrictions on them.
