PESHAWAR: The doctors with specialisation in different disciplines of medical sciences from College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan have complained about the unavailability of appropriate employment opportunities in the public sector and insisted the situation has forced them to take up low-paying jobs.
They said that those who had passed the CPSP’s FCPS examination less than two years ago were working as senior, specialist or experiential registrars and drawing Rs100,000 to Rs150,000 a month from private hospitals in Peshawar.
The doctors said that holders of such positions in the government sector got more than Rs200,000 a month after tax deduction, while they also received consultation fees from patients for institution-based practice in evening shifts in medical teaching institutions.
They said 10 medical teaching institutions had around 3,700 consultants, with each clinical consultant getting money from consultation fees as well as those charged for surgeries and other procedures performed by them.
Say situation has forced them to take up low-paying jobs
They said that about 900 consultants were working in district headquarters and teaching hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
CPSP, currently offering specialisation degrees in 85 specialties, has produced about 35,000 specialists, including an estimated 10,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in different disciplines since its inception more than 60 years ago.
The doctors said that the number of consultants was rising but jobs in government hospitals were few, forcing consultants to open their own clinics or go to private hospitals for jobs with fixed salaries. They added that only a few hospitals offered consultants a share in consultation fees.
The doctors said that the number of FCPS doctors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be in the thousands.
They said most doctors had FCPS qualifications in major subjects like medicine, general surgery, general pediatrics, orthopedics, gastroenterology, ENT and eye care, while there was a shortage of FCPS in anaesthesia, dermatology, radiology and super specialties, including those having second FCPS ICU and paediatrics super specialties.
The doctors said most specialist doctors in MTIs held FCPS degrees but the problem was mostly with super specialties, having two FCPS qualifications.
“Children wards in most MTIs have FCPS paediatricians but there are few super specialists with two FCPS qualifications,” a senior doctor tod this scribe.
He said that it was an era of super specialties because a child specialist with FCPS (Paeds) couldn’t manage a newborn with complicated issues as could be managed by a neonatologist with a second FCPS degree in neonatology after first in paediatrics.
The doctor said the same was the case with children having complicated diseases of neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology, nephrology, endocrinology, haematology oncology, special children and ICU.
“Such cases can be managed only in the presence of specialists having second FCPS in relevant specialties and the same is true for paediatric surgery,” he said.
The doctors said that in the past, general surgeons, paediatricians and physicians treated most cases but the situation had changed a lot as there were super specialties for most diseases but such specialties were rarely available in public sector hospitals.
They said despite a lot of doctors with two FCPS degrees, MTIs had fewer positions and patients were taken to private hospitals for highly specialised services.
The doctors said that FCPS trainees went through harder duty hours in hospitals and passed examinations in several attempts but then they didn’t find any specific duty hours, with usually minimum hours being 65-72. They said trainee medical officers managed the wards and remained 24 hours on call.
“For FCPS qualified doctors, duty is usually for eight hours daily for six days but except for a few in most private hospitals, they perform more than eight hours a day. Not only doctors with postgraduate qualifications in super specialties but those in general specialties don’t find jobs in the public sector,” another senior doctor told this scribe.
He said that on one hand, the government continued to increase post graduation seats but on the other, those passing the examinations weren’t finding jobs.
The doctor said that medics having postgraduate qualification in super specialties went to other provinces or abroad but those with general FCPS continued to face joblessness.
Published in media, October 10th, 2025
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