The Policy Board of Medical Teaching Institutions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has directed all boards of governors to immediately withdraw advertisements for recruitment against trainee registrar positions.

According to a letter issued by the policy board on September 1, 2026, trainee registrar positions were providing an opportunity to extend the training period of medical officers who had completed their training but failed to pass the Fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS) examination.

The policy board maintained that doctors who passed the FCPS examination during the same training period should not be denied similar opportunities. It stated that there was no justification for retaining trainee registrar positions when doctors who had failed the examination were being given an opportunity to extend their training.

The board said two-year experiential registrar positions were already available for FCPS-qualified doctors to gain the professional experience required for faculty positions in medical teaching institutions.

These experiential registrar positions will have a maximum duration of two years. During this period, the relevant departments will be required to establish training programmes and performance targets for the appointed doctors.

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The performance of experiential registrars will be evaluated after one year. Doctors showing unsatisfactory progress will be given corrective measures, while those demonstrating significant underperformance may also be removed from their positions.

The policy board has directed all medical teaching institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to withdraw pending recruitment advertisements for trainee registrar posts and inform doctors already working against these positions about the decision.

However, existing trainee registrars may be allowed to continue working for a maximum of three months, subject to legal and contractual requirements and provided their initial contracts have at least three months remaining.

The decision could affect around 500 trainee medical officers working in government teaching hospitals across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The possible termination of their jobs has also raised concerns about the availability of medical staff in teaching hospitals and the future of postgraduate medical training in the province.

Sources said a large number of trainee doctors were concerned about the decision and had urged the provincial government to reconsider its policy.

The affected doctors said trainee registrar positions were initially introduced in major hospitals, including Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) and the Institute of Kidney Diseases.

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According to the trainee doctors, these positions existed as junior registrar posts before the introduction of the MTI system. Government doctors from different districts were posted to major hospitals for two to three years to receive specialised training and gain experience in modern medical treatment before returning to their respective districts.

They said the positions were later given the status of trainee registrar posts under the MTI system to accommodate doctors pursuing specialisation at major teaching hospitals.

The trainee doctors termed the abolition of these positions unjustified and appealed to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to review the decision, warning that it could jeopardise the careers of hundreds of doctors working in the province's teaching hospitals.