ISLAMABAD: A medical tribunal has allowed two postgraduate doctors facing two-year suspension of their medical licences to continue their training and appear in their upcoming final examinations while their appeals against the disciplinary action are pending.

The three-member tribunal, headed by retired Justice Safdar Saleem Shahid, granted identical interim relief to Dr Tayyaba Fatima Toor and Dr Muhammad Essa.

The tribunal suspended the operation of a Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) disciplinary order dated July 28, 2026, but only to the extent required to allow the doctors to continue and complete their postgraduate training and appear in their final examinations.

However, the tribunal did not set aside the disciplinary findings or restore an unrestricted licence to practise medicine. It clarified that the relief was provisional and subject to the final outcome of their appeals.

The order also made clear that the permission to continue postgraduate education does not amount to permission for independent clinical practice.

The two doctors were among five postgraduate trainees whose cases came under scrutiny after a video recorded during surgery at Lahore’s Lady Willingdon Hospital circulated on social media. The PMDC had earlier said that Dr Tayyaba Fatima Toor, Dr Zainab Tahir, Dr Muhammad Essa, Dr Ayesha Afzal and Dr Maham Amin appeared in preliminary proceedings related to the video.

The matter was subsequently referred to the PMDC Disciplinary Committee, which imposed a two-year suspension on the medical registration licences of the appellants.

The disciplinary decision is now being challenged before the Medical Tribunal, while Tuesday’s orders dealt only with the doctors’ requests for interim relief.

Distinction between training and medical practice

The tribunal drew a distinction between pursuing postgraduate education and independently practising medicine.

It observed that permission to continue an academic programme and sit for an examination could, in an appropriate case, be granted provisionally without finally deciding whether a doctor should be allowed to practise independently.

According to the orders, the doctors had substantially completed their prescribed postgraduate training and had also cleared the required intermediate or mid-term component. Their final postgraduate examinations are expected in about four months.

The tribunal noted that preventing the doctors from completing their remaining academic requirements could cause them to miss their examinations. If they later succeeded in their appeals, that lost academic opportunity might not be fully recoverable.

At the same time, allowing them to continue their training and sit the examinations would not determine the validity of the disciplinary proceedings or give them an unconditional right to practise medicine.

The appeals will now proceed on their merits before the Medical Tribunal.