Afghanistan’s Medical Education Challenge

Afghanistan’s Medical Education Challenge:

Do We Need More Medical Universities, or Better-Prepared Doctors?

A call for consistent standards, transparent evaluation, and stronger medical education

14 October 2026

Introduction

Medical education is not just another subject on a national agenda. It is directly tied to the health and future of the Afghan people. In a country where millions rely on a fragile and limited health-care system, the quality of the doctors we train should be one of our highest priorities. The real question is not how many medical universities we have, but whether those institutions are turning out graduates who can deliver safe, competent, and responsible care.

Both public and private medical universities have a role to play. Yet the rapid growth of medical colleges has to be matched by strong academic standards, transparent evaluation, properly qualified teachers, and enough real clinical training. If we keep opening more institutions without first ensuring quality, we may end up with more names on graduation lists—and still leave patients without the care they need.

The Medical Exit Examination: What Should It Really Measure?

A medical examination should test more than a student’s ability to remember isolated facts. Of course basic knowledge matters, but a doctor also has to be able to use that knowledge when facing real patients. From my own experience sitting the examination, many of the questions seemed focused on pure recall—naming the pancreatic duct, listing the types of fluid in the eye, and so on. In my personal estimate, only about 5–10 percent of the questions felt truly clinical. This is simply my observation, not an official analysis of the paper.

A strong examination ought to ask whether a graduate can recognise common and dangerous conditions, interpret clinical information, make sensible diagnostic decisions, choose safe initial treatment, manage emergencies, and know when to refer. Factual knowledge should still be tested, but it should never overshadow the ability to apply that knowledge at the bedside.

In the end, the purpose of any licensing examination is to judge readiness for practice in a fair and meaningful way. Its content should mirror the responsibilities doctors actually face every day.

Results That Raise Hard Questions About Some Private Medical Universities

Figures circulating from recent medical exit examinations have left many people uneasy. Reports about Rokhan Medical University suggest that around 449 candidates sat the exam and only about 17.86 percent passed. For Danish Medical Faculty in Parwan the numbers being shared are even more striking: 79 candidates and a pass rate of roughly 5 percent.

These are just two examples. They should never be treated as the full story of medical education in Afghanistan. Other universities may be facing similar difficulties, and any serious look at the system needs to examine institutions across the country. The figures themselves should also be checked against official results before anyone treats them as independently verified facts.

If the numbers turn out to be accurate, they force us to ask difficult questions about how students are taught, assessed, and prepared throughout their training. A low pass rate by itself does not prove that a university is unaccredited or that one single factor is to blame. What it should do is trigger a transparent review of teaching quality, faculty qualifications, curriculum delivery, student support, clinical exposure, and the institution’s accreditation status.

Why We Need Standardized Examinations During Medical School

Consistent standards should not begin and end with the final licensing exam. Students at both public and private medical universities ought to be assessed through a common, national system at key stages of their studies. Universities can continue to run their own internal exams, but those should be complemented by national assessments designed and administered by an independent examination committee.

Such examinations would use the same standards, fair marking, and clear pass criteria across every province and every institution. That would make it far easier to track students’ progress and to spot gaps in learning early. The goal is not simply to fail people. The goal is to identify weaknesses while there is still time for universities and students to put them right before graduation day arrives.

The reported results from Rokhan and Danish are useful illustrations of why this matters, not proof that they are the only institutions with problems. A proper country-wide review should examine results from many universities, public and private alike, and ask whether students are meeting expected standards throughout their training.

These mid-course assessments should remain separate from the final licensing examination. They would function as a quality-monitoring system during medical school, catching problems with teaching and learning long before students reach the end of the line.

Does Afghanistan Really Need So Many Private Medical Universities?

Afghanistan has a population of roughly 43 million people, and we certainly need enough well-trained doctors to serve communities across the country. But population size alone cannot dictate how many medical universities we should open. Decisions must also take into account the real need for doctors, the uneven distribution of health services, the capacity of teaching hospitals, the availability of qualified faculty, and above all the quality of clinical training.

If a university takes in large numbers of students without enough teachers, laboratories, teaching hospitals, or clinical opportunities, the quality of education inevitably suffers. Medical education should never be treated mainly as a business. Every institution that trains future doctors has to prove it has the resources and systems required to give students a proper education.

Admission Standards and the Role of the Kankor

Entry into private medical universities should also rest on clear academic standards. Applicants need to meet a defined national minimum, and their Kankor performance should form part of a fair and transparent admission process. Students who miss out on places in public medical universities should not automatically walk into private institutions without meeting an appropriate academic threshold.

Medicine demands a solid foundation in science, sustained hard work, and the capacity to handle heavy academic and clinical responsibilities. The ability to pay tuition should never be the main factor that decides who enters medical training. Strong admission standards protect students from starting a programme for which they may not be ready, while still ensuring that qualified applicants are treated fairly.

Should Public and Private Universities Follow the Same Standards?

Yes. Public and private medical universities should be judged by the same core standards admission requirements, curriculum coverage, faculty qualifications, teaching resources, clinical exposure, examination quality, and student outcomes. The aim is not to single out private universities or to give public institutions an automatic free pass. The aim is simply to ensure that every place responsible for educating future doctors meets a minimum national standard.

Public universities play an important role in Afghanistan’s medical education system, but their public status does not remove the need for transparent quality assurance. Likewise, private universities should not be judged solely by their ownership or by one examination result. Each institution deserves a fair evaluation based on reliable evidence and consistent criteria.

Accountability and Accreditation

Every medical university should undergo regular, transparent quality reviews. Those reviews need to examine whether the institution has qualified teachers, adequate facilities, an appropriate curriculum, sufficient clinical training opportunities, and a reliable system for assessing students. Student intake must be based on the institution’s real capacity, not on an unlimited desire to enrol more people.

When an institution repeatedly produces poor examination outcomes, the response should include a detailed review and a clear improvement plan. Depending on the findings, measures might include extra oversight, limits on new admissions, or other appropriate action until standards are met. Such steps must follow a fair process and rest on evidence rather than assumptions.

Universities themselves must also take responsibility for the quality of the education they provide. That responsibility does not end when a student pays tuition or receives a degree. They should be able to show that their graduates have received the education and training the profession requires.

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