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The Aga Khan University

Department of Postgraduate Medical Education

Admission Cycle 2016

Information for

Interns, Residents and Fellows

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The Aga Khan University

Department of Postgraduate Medical Education

Admission Cycle 2016

Information for Interns, Residents and Fellows

The Aga Khan University (AKU) offers internship, residency and fellowship programmes for national

and International medical graduates. These programmes offer an excellent training environment with

close faculty supervision. In addition to training students have access to Continuing Medical Education

(CME) seminars, guest lectures by eminent scholars, and state-of-art library and audio visual facilities.

AKU is open to all academically qualified candidates irrespective of gender, religion, race, creed, colour

or domicile.

Most of the residency and fellowship programmes are recognised by the College of Physicians and

Surgeons, Pakistan (CPSP) and many are also recognised by the Royal Colleges in the United Kingdom.

Internships at AKU which provide clinical experience under the supervision of senior faculty are

recognised by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC).

All the training programmes start from January 1, 2016.

Internship

All medical graduates, including those expecting their MBBS final results by end November, 2015 are

eligible to apply. MBBS graduates must be from an institution recognised by the PM&DC and must be

provisionally registered with the PM&DC.

Applicants are required to attempt an Admission Test aimed at evaluating application of knowledge in

solving common clinical problems not specific to any specialty. Based on the Admission Test result, the

applicant will be considered for an interview.

Successful candidates will be offered a one-year contract: six months each in medicine and allied and

surgery and allied specialties. The deadline for submitting all pending documents including MBBS

final year results and PM&DC provisional registration is December 15, 2015 after which candidates

will not be considered for selection even if they qualify the admission test and interview process.

Rotations will be allocated according to ranking on the final merit list.

Those interns who successfully complete one-year Internship at AKU with good standing and are

interested to pursue residency training at AKU will be exempted from taking the residency admission test.

An academic certificate will be awarded to students who complete the entire one-year programme.

Applicants selected from training programmes in other institutions must submit a no objection certificate

(NOC) or a copy of resignation letter approved by the supervising consultant, before joining the training

programme at AKU.

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Residency

Applications are invited for the following residency programmes;

3-year programme

Adult Cardiology

Clinical Haematology

Dermatology

Gastroenterology

Medical Oncology

Nephrology

Neurology

Pulmonary Medicine

4-year programmes

Cardiac Surgery

Community Medicine

Emergency Medicine

Family Medicine

Internal Medicine*

Neurosurgery

Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Operative Dentistry

Orthodontics

Orthopaedic Surgery

Paediatrics & Child Health

Paediatric Surgery

Plastic Surgery

Psychiatry

Radiation Oncology

Urology

5-year programmes

Anaesthesiology

Chemical Pathology

Diagnostic Radiology

General Surgery

Haematology

Histopathology

Microbiology

Otolaryngology/Head & Neck

Surgery

A candidate can apply for only one residency programme at a time.

Eligibility Requirement for Residency

General

Individuals applying for a residency programme must fulfil the following conditions as applicable:

*As per CPSP guidelines, candidates are required to take a final decision about selecting 2-year

internal medicine tract versus 4-year IM residency program before applying to the programme.

Change will not be allowed after induction from 2-year programme to 4-year program or vice

versa.

Hold an MBBS / BDS degree from an institution recognised by PM&DC.

Have a valid registration with the PM&DC until December 2016 at the least. Candidates whose

PM&DC license will be expiring in December 2015 are required to submit copies of their current

license as well as their PM&DC license renewal application.

A year‟s experience as a house officer/intern with six months each in medicine and allied

specialties and surgery and allied specialties.

Registration with the research and training monitoring cell (RTMC), CPSP, as trainees for the

relevant intermediate module will be preferred.

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Programme Specific Eligibility Requirement

In addition to general requirements mentioned above, following are programme specific requirements:

Programme Eligibility / Requirement

Adult Cardiology FCPS Part I or equivalent.

Two years of training in internal medicine.

Eligible for intermediate module, however strong preference will be

given to those candidates who have already cleared their intermediate

module.

Anaesthesiology FCPS Part I will be preferred.

Cardiothoracic Surgery FCPS Part I

Eligible for FCPS intermediate module.

Candidates with FCPS Intermediate module or equivalent in general

surgery are preferred

Clinical Haematology FCPS Part I

2 years residency in medicine

Intermediate Module

Chemical Pathology FCPS Part I or equivalent.

Community Medicine FCPS Part I in community medicine will be preferred.

Dermatology One year house job

FCPS Part I

2-year training in medicine

Eligible for intermediate module, however strong preference will be

given to those candidates who have already cleared their intermediate

module.

Diagnostic Radiology FCPS Part I in radiology.

Emergency Medicine FCPS Part I will be preferred in medicine and allied, surgery and

allied or anaesthesia.

Family Medicine FCPS Part I will be preferred.

Gastroenterology FCPS / MRCP Medicine / ABIM or Part I.

In case of FCPS part 1, two years‟ experience in internal medicine

from a recognised institution with intermediate module (IMM) from

CPSP.

General Surgery Should have passed MBBS after 2011 or later

FCPS Part I in Surgery or equivalent

Haematology FCPS Part I or equivalent.

Histopathology FCPS Part I or equivalent.

Internal Medicine Track I (4 Years)

MBBS or equivalent degree approved by the PM&DC, with 58 per

cent or above marks in the final examination

One year internship with six months in Medicine and allied and six

months in Surgery and allied disciplines

FCPS Part I/MRCP Part I

Track II(2 years)

Applicants after the completion of their internship and FCPS Part I

will be considered for 2-year internal medicine training at AKU prior

to core sub-specialty medicine training

MBBS or equivalent degree approved by the PM&DC

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FCPS Part I

Medical Oncology MBBS degree from an institution recognised by PM&DC

Completed one year internship with six months in Surgery and

allied and six months in Medicine and allied disciplines

Track 1 (3-year programme)

FCPS Part I with at least two years approved training in Medicine

Candidates with Intermediate Module (IM) exam cleared

will be preferred.

Track 2 (5-year programme)

FCPS Part I is mandatory

Microbiology FCPS Part I or equivalent.

Nephrology FCPS Part I or equivalent.

2-year training in internal medicine.

Eligibility for intermediate module, however strong preference will be

given to candidates who have cleared their intermediate module.

Neurology Track I

FCPS Part I or equivalent.

2-year training in internal medicine.

Eligibility for intermediate module, however strong preference will

be given to candidates who have cleared their intermediate module.

Track II(no positions available)

Applicants after the completion of their internship and FCPS Part I

will be considered for 2-year internal medicine training at AKU

prior to core neurology training

Neurosurgery FCPS Part I or equivalent.

Obstetrics/Gynaecology FCPS Part I or equivalent will be preferred.

3 months house job / experience in Obstetrics/Gynaecology.

Operative Dentistry One year house job / internship in various subspecialties of dentistry.

FCPS Part I.

Orthodontics One year house job / internship in various subspecialties of dentistry.

FCPS Part I.

Orthopaedics FCPS Part I or equivalent.

Otolaryngology/Head &

Neck Surgery

FCPS Part I will be preferred. Preference will be given to those

candidates having some experience in otolaryngology.

Paediatrics and Child

Health

FCPS Part I or equivalent.

Paediatric Surgery FCPS Part I or equivalent.

Two years‟ training in general surgery

Eligible for intermediate module, however preference will be given to

those candidates who have already cleared their intermediate module.

Plastic Surgery FCPS Part I

Two Year experience in general surgery or one year general surgery

and one year in surgical specialities other than plastic surgery.

Candidates with or without experience in general surgery can apply.

Psychiatry FCPS Part I or equivalent preferred.

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Pulmonary Medicine FCPS Part I or equivalent.

Two years‟ training in internal medicine.

Eligible for intermediate module, however strong preference will be

given to those candidates who have cleared their intermediate module.

Radiation Oncology FCPS Part I in radiology.

Urology Preference will be given to candidates with FRCS / AFRCS / MRCS

Part I or FCPS Part I.

For PGY-III preference will be given to candidate having MRCS

(Full) with exemption for IM and Part I or IM cleared.

Additional Information

Applicants for surgical specialties must clear their FCPS Part I in surgery and allied specialties before

submission. Candidates may apply in one of the following two categories:

a) Candidates who have already passed or who are eligible to sit for the intermediate module may

enter the residency programme directly.

b) Candidates who wish to apply for preliminary core training in General Surgery at Aga Khan

University before applying to a surgery residency training programme.

Applicants for Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Paediatrics and Child Health will have rotations at

Aga Khan University Hospital campus as well as its off-campus sites in Karachi and Hyderabad.

Applicants for Otolaryngology/Head and Neck surgery will rotate through General Surgery for six

months during the five-year programme.

Flexible Residency Training Programme

The University has a flexible residency training programme in the fields of Anaesthesiology, Internal

Medicine and Paediatrics Child Health for candidates who are unable to train full-time. Twopositions in

Paediatrics and one position each in Anaesthesiology and Internal Medicineare available. Women are

encouraged to apply.

Fellowship

Entrance into Fellowship (post-residency advanced training) is offered in the following subspecialties:

1-year programmes

Diagnostic Neuro-Radiology

Neurovascular (Stroke)

Obstetrics Anaesthesia

Pain Fellowship

Vascular and Interventional Radiology

Women Imaging

3-year programmes

Paediatric Cardiology

Paediatric Haematology/Oncology*

Paediatric Infectious Diseases

Paediatric Neurology*

* 3rd

year optional

2-year programmes

Adult Infectious Disease

Clinical Neurophysiology and Electrodiagnostic

Medicine

Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism

Gynae-Oncology

Interventional Cardiology

Neonatal Paediatrics

Paediatric Critical Care Medicine

Uro-gynaecology & Pelvic Reconstructive

Surgery

Peripheral Vascular Surgery

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A candidate can apply for only one fellowship programme at a time.

There will be no admission test for entrance into fellowship training. Selection will be based on

interviews.

Eligibility / Requirement

General Individuals applying for the fellowship programmes must have:

An MBBS from an institution recognised by the PM&DC.

A year of house job/internship, with six months each in medicine and allied disciplines

and surgery and allied disciplines. Have a valid registration with the PM&DC until December 2016 at the least. Candidates whose

PM&DC license will be expiring in December 2015 are required to submit a copy of their current

license, as well as their license renewal application to PM&DC.

Programme Specific Eligibility Requirement

In addition to general requirement mentioned above; following are the programme specific

requirement/eligibility:

Programme Requirement

Adult Infectious Disease

Three years of approved training in internal medicine.

Successful completion of FCPS-II

Clinical Neurophysiology

and Electrodiagnostic

Medicine

Completion of at least three years of adult neurology training from a

national or international training programme.

Should be eligible to appear in FCPS neurology, American Boards in

Neurology.

Diabetes, Endocrinology

and Metabolism

Four years of approved training in internal medicine.

Successful completion of FCPS / MRCP / Diplomate American

Board of Internal Medicine or any other equivalent postgraduate

qualification.

Diagnostic Neuro-Radiology Four years of training in radiology.

FCPS Part II and one year experience in a clinical field other than

internship/house job would be preferable.

Gynae-Oncology

Completed structured residency training program in Obstetrics &

Gynaecology.

FCPS Part II or MRCOG or equivalent qualification according to

PM&DC.

Interventional Cardiology Three years of approved training in Adult Cardiology

Those with completed FCPS-II exam in Adult Cardiology or

equivalent will be preferred.

Neonatal Paediatrics Four years of paediatrics residency training.

Candidates with FCPS Part II in paediatrics will be preferred.

Neurovascular (Stroke) At least three years of neurology training from a national or

international training programme.

Should be eligible to appear in FCPS neurology.

Extended research training is also an option and an interest or track

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record in research will be preferred.

Obstetrics Anaesthesia 4 years program in anaesthesiology.

Candidates eligible or have successfully acquired FCPS Part II or

equivalent qualification in anaesthesia

Paediatric Cardiology Four years of paediatrics residency training. Successful completion of FCPS Part II in paediatrics.

Paediatric Critical Care

Medicine

Four years of paediatrics residency training. Successful completion of FCPS Part II in paediatrics.

Paediatric Haematology /

Oncology

Four years of paediatrics residency training.

Candidates with FCPS Part II in paediatrics will be preferred.

Paediatric Infectious

Disease

Four years of paediatrics residency training.

Candidates with FCPS Part II in paediatrics will be preferred.

Paediatric Neurology Four years of paediatrics residency training.

Candidates with FCPS Part II in paediatrics will be preferred.

Pain Fellowship Completion of four to five years of training in anaesthesia

FCPS Part II or eligible to appear in Part II or equivalent.

Uro-gynaecology & Pelvic

Reconstructive Surgery

Completed residency program in Obstetrics and Gynecology from

accredited institution.

FCPS or MRCOG or equivalent in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Vascular & Interventional

Radiology

Four years of training in radiology.

FCPS Part II.

Experience in clinical field is desirable.

Peripheral Vascular

Surgery

Four years training in General Surgery or Equivalent

FCPS Part II or eligible to appear in Part II or equivalent.

Women Imaging

Four to Five years of Residency Training in Radiology Residency

FCPS Part II.

Admission Information

Only on-line applications will be accepted. Candidates will be required to first register themselves by

defining user name and password. Application form for programmes offered will be displayed after

registration. Each candidate can apply only for one programme hence only one application form can be

submitted. Candidate may partially fill the form and save it online for resuming filling out the form later

using login credentials. Once the on-line application form is filled and submitted, candidate would be able

to and must save the PDF version of the application form and take a printout. The hard copy of the on-

line application form along with the required documents and application fee must be submitted to the

Admissions Office, Medical College either personally, through friends/relatives or through reliable

courier service.

Candidates may pay their application fee through the following modes of payment:

For candidates in Pakistan: The payment can be made by a pay order / demand draft in favour of “The

Aga Khan University” or by online deposit to any branch of Soneri Bank Limited. The banking details are

as follows:

Title : The Aga Khan University

Account # : 01021227508

Branch code : 0024

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Branch : The Aga Khan University Branch, Stadium Road, Karachi

The acknowledgment of payment given by the bank on the deposit slip should be submitted along with

the application form to the Admission Office.

For candidates overseas: The payment may be made by demand draft in favour of “The Aga Khan

University”.

The Admission Office is open from Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Please click the following link for on-line Application Form www.aku.edu/mc-pk/postgraduate

The completed application along with the non-refundable application fee should be submitted to the

Admission Office between 9:00 am – 12:00 pm according to the following schedule:

Early Birds (all programmes): Last Date: July 15, 2015

Application Fee: Rs. 3,500

Late applications (for all programmes): Last Date: August 7, 2015

Application Fee: Rs. 7,000

Please clearly state the programme you intend to apply for. Applications received after August 07,

2015will not be processed.

Admission Test

Applications will be scrutinised and only those candidates meeting the eligibility criteria will be invited

for the admission test for the internship and residency programmes which will be held in Karachi,

Hyderabad and Rawalpindi on August 29, 2015.This test will be used to shortlist candidates for

interviews in internship and all residency programmes. This test will comprise a section on English,

which is designed to assess competence in the English language. Candidates should report for the test at

the time and venue stated in the Admit Card.

Exemption from Admission Test:

Internship: From 2016 admission year onwards, only those AKU graduates who have completed their

MBBS programme two years prior to the Internship admission year will be exempted from writing the

AKU Internship Admission Test. Applications however will be accepted from all AKU graduates; they

will be required to write the AKU Internship Admission Test. For this year (2015), all AKU graduates

completing their MBBS will be exempted from writing the test.

Residency: From 2016 admission year onwards, only those candidates who have completed one-year

Internship programme with good standing from Aga Khan University two years prior to the Residency

admission year will be exempted from writing the AKU Admission Test. Applications however will be

accepted from all AKU Internship graduates; they will be required to write the relevant AKU Residency

test. For this year (2015), those who have completed one-year Internship with good standing from AKU

from 2010 onwards are exempted from writing the test.

Candidates from outside Karachi, will not be paid TA/DA to attempt the admission test or attend

interviews.

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For further information, please call the Postgraduate Medical Education Office at

021 486 4546 / 486 4583 / 486 4534

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Salary and Benefits

Interns will be offered a salary of Rs 27,000/- per month.

Residents will be offered a monthly salary according to their residency level:

Resident I Rs 43,500/-

Resident II Rs 44,500/-

Resident III Rs 45,500/-

Resident IV Rs 46,500/-

Resident V Rs 47,500/-

Fellows will be offered a monthly salary according to their level:

Fellow I Rs 85,000/-

Fellow II Rs 90,000/-

Fellow III Rs 95,000/-

In addition, an attractive benefits package will be provided.

Accommodation

AKU does not take the responsibility of providing accommodation to all outstation candidates. It is only

subject to availability. Subsidised housing near the campus may be provided to interns, residents and

fellows from outside Karachi. Those who cannot be accommodated will be provided an outstation

allowance.

Initial appointment will be for a period of one year, renewable and subject to evaluation by faculty.

Information for Applicants

Admission Test Centre

Applicants should indicate one centre of their choice in the space provided in the application form.

The time and venue of the test centres will be indicated on the admit card. In case candidates do not

receive admit cards on time, they are advised and permitted to attempt the test at a convenient centre

provided they present a photocopy of the application form, evidence of payment of application fee and a

photo ID for identification.

Discipline

The University expects honesty from applicants. Dishonest behaviour during the test or violation of

instructions given by the examiner will result in irrevocable disqualification of the applicant from the

selection process.

Test structure

The duration of the test is 2 hours and 30 minutes. The test paper consists of 120 multiple choice

questions and all questions are compulsory. Applicants are advised not to guess answers. Each correct

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answer receives one point. Omitted questions do not get any points. 0.25 points will be deducted for every

incorrect response.

The community medicine residency test will cover competence in English, Mathematics and Common

Clinical Problems. Duration of the exam will be one hour 30 minutes.

The candidates of adult cardiology, gastroenterology and pulmonary medicine residency programmes will

be required to write paper consisting 50 specialty based MCQ‟s and 20 English MCQ‟s. Duration of exam

will be 1 hour.

The University has not authorised any publication or preparatory classes for this test.

Answer sheet

The test will be answered on a single, printed answer sheet, which is scored by a computer. All answers

must be marked with pencil. The answer sheet is extremely sensitive. Be absolutely sure before marking

an answer and make a dark mark. If you wish to change the answer, erase it completely and then make a

new mark. If the computer reads two marks, it will record a zero.

Name and identity of the candidate

At the beginning of the test, you will be asked to fill-in your name and application number on the answer

sheet. An example is shown below:

Answering multiple-choice questions

For every question, there are 4/5 choices and only one correct answer.

To mark the answer sheet, darken the appropriate box with the pencil provided. For example, if „C‟ is the

correct answer, it should be marked:

A B C D E

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Sample questions

A 34-year old woman has had severe watery diarrhoea for the past four days. Two months earlier, she had

infectious mononucleosis. She abuses drugs intravenously and has antibodies to HIV in her blood. Physical

examination shows dehydration and marked muscle weakness.

1. Laboratory studies are most likely to show:

A. Decreased serum K+ concentration

B. Decreased serum Ca++

concentration

C. Increased serum HCO3- concentration

D. Increased serum Na+ concentration

E. Increased serum pH

2. In evaluating the cause of the diarrhoea, which

of the following is most appropriate?

A. Colonic biopsy to identify Giardia lamblia

B. Culture of the oral cavity for Candida albicans

C. Duodenal biopsy to identify Entamoeba

D. Gastric aspirate to identify Mycobacterium

avium-intracellulare

E. Stool specimen to identify Cryptosporidium

3. Further studies to evaluate her HIV infection

show the ratio of helper T lymphocytes to

suppressor T lymphocytes to be 0.3. This

occurs because HIV:

A. Induces proliferation of helper

T lymphocytes

B. Induces proliferation of suppressor

T lymphocytes

C. Infects cells with CD-4 receptors

D. Infects macrophages

E. Stimulates the synthesis of leukotriene

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THE AGA KHAN UNIVERSITY Department of Postgraduate, Medical Education

Stadium Road, P.O. Box 3500, Karachi 74800, Pakistan

Fax: +92 21 34934294/2095,Tel: +92 21 3486- 4546 / 4583 Email: pgme.admissions@aku.edu