Punjab Medical Colleges Switch to Contract Hiring
Punjab medical colleges and teaching hospitals will fill vacancies on three-year contracts instead of permanent appointments, under a new procedure approved by the provincial government.
The Specialized Healthcare Department has issued a notification to all medical universities, medical colleges and teaching hospitals in Punjab. The approval covers Grade 18 Senior Registrar and Assistant Professor posts, as well as Grade 19 Associate Professor and Grade 20 Professor vacancies.
Punjab medical colleges: how the contract system will work
Appointments will be institution-specific and subject to the prescribed quota for initial recruitments. The first contract will run for three years, with the chance of an extension based on satisfactory performance.
The government said the change aims to address the shortage of specialist doctors and ensure continuity of medical education in public institutions. The notification has gone out to every medical university, medical college and teaching hospital in the province, so institutions can now start advertising the posts on the new terms.
Why Punjab is changing the rules
The shortage of specialists sits at the heart of the decision. Teaching hospitals need senior doctors for two jobs at once: treating patients and training medical students. When a professor or associate professor post stays empty, both suffer. Wards lose experienced hands, and students lose teachers.
Permanent recruitment through the public service process can take months, and often longer. Contract hiring lets a hospital fill a gap quickly, with the post tied to that institution rather than to a central pool. The three-year term, with extension linked to performance, gives the department a way to keep staff it rates and move on from those it does not.
The change also raises questions the notification does not answer. Contract posts can be filled faster than permanent ones, but they offer less job security, and that can affect whether senior specialists apply at all. Doctors weighing a move from a permanent post elsewhere will want to know what happens after three years, and how the extension decision is made.
The posts covered are the senior rungs of medical teaching. Senior registrars train young doctors on the wards. Assistant professors, associate professors and professors head departments, set teaching standards and carry the clinical load in specialist units. A gap at any of these levels is felt across a hospital.
Medical education under strain
The move comes at a time when Punjab’s medical education system has faced pressure on several fronts. Medical colleges have faced disputes over excessive fees, and the Lahore High Court has ordered fee refunds.
Admissions have also drawn scrutiny, after mark sheets were tampered with in Hyderabad’s MDCAT process. At the higher education level, the HEC runs an admission test for PhD candidates, which shows how much of the system now runs on testing and selection.
Against that background, the contract hiring decision is the government’s answer to one specific problem: empty senior posts in its own teaching hospitals. Whether it eases the specialist shortage will depend on how quickly institutions advertise the posts, and on whether senior doctors see a three-year contract as worth taking.
Frequently asked questions
Which posts will be filled on contract in Punjab?
Grade 18 Senior Registrar and Assistant Professor posts, Grade 19 Associate Professor posts and Grade 20 Professor posts.
How long will the contracts last?
Three years at first, with the chance of an extension based on satisfactory performance.
Why has Punjab ended permanent hiring for these posts?
The government says the change will address the shortage of specialist doctors and ensure continuity of medical education.
Which institutions are covered?
All public medical universities, medical colleges and teaching hospitals in Punjab.
