MDCAT Glossary
Plain-language definitions for 44 of the most common MDCAT terms. Hover any term in a question to see its definition inline.
- Action potentialbiology
- Brief reversal of membrane potential in a neuron triggered when depolarisation crosses threshold.
- Activation energychemistry
- Minimum kinetic energy reactants must possess for a productive collision to occur.
- Admitting universityadmissions
- The university a province designates to run the MDCAT and the centralised admission process: UHS in Punjab, DUHS in Sindh, KMU in KPK, and SZABMU for the Islamabad federal seats.
- Aggregateadmissions
- The weighted percentage used to rank candidates for admission: Matric 10%, FSc/HSSC 40%, and MDCAT 50%. The aggregate, not the raw MDCAT score, determines your place on the merit list.
- AKU Entry Testadmissions
- Aga Khan University's own admission test. AKU does not use the PMDC MDCAT score; it runs an independent test plus an interview and holistic review.
- Allelebiology
- Variant form of a gene occupying the same locus on a chromosome.
- BDSadmissions
- Bachelor of Dental Surgery: the four-year undergraduate dental degree. The MDCAT qualifying threshold for BDS is 50% (90 of 180).
- Closing meritadmissions
- The lowest aggregate that secured a seat in a given college during a cycle. For example, King Edward Medical University closed near 96% in 2024-25, while the lowest open-merit public seat in Punjab sat around 94.2 to 94.4%.Also known as: cutoff, merit cutoff
- Covalent bondchemistry
- Chemical bond formed by sharing one or more electron pairs between two atoms.
- Diffusionbiology
- Net movement of particles from a region of higher concentration to lower concentration down a concentration gradient.
- DNA replicationbiology
- Semi-conservative duplication of the DNA double helix during S phase of the cell cycle.
- Domicileadmissions
- A certificate proving permanent residence in a specific district. Candidates sit the MDCAT in their domicile province and compete for that region's quota seats.
- Electric fieldphysics
- Vector field giving the force per unit positive test charge at a point in space.
- Electronegativitychemistry
- Tendency of a bonded atom to attract shared electron density toward itself; scales with Pauling values.
- Enzymebiology
- Protein catalyst that lowers the activation energy of a specific biochemical reaction without being consumed.
- Equilibrium constantchemistry
- Ratio of product to reactant activities at equilibrium for a reversible reaction at a given temperature.Also known as: Kc, Kp
- Glycolysisbiology
- Cytoplasmic breakdown of one glucose into two pyruvate molecules, yielding a net of 2 ATP and 2 NADH.
- Homeostasisbiology
- Active regulation of a stable internal physiological state despite external changes.
- IBCCadmissions
- Inter Board Committee of Chairmen: the federal body that issues equivalence certificates for A-Level and other foreign qualifications, which A-Level students need before applying.Also known as: Inter Board Committee of Chairmen
- Ionic bondchemistry
- Electrostatic attraction between a cation and an anion formed by complete electron transfer.
- Kinetic energyphysics
- Energy a body possesses due to its motion, equal to ½mv² for non-relativistic speeds.
- Krebs cyclebiology
- Mitochondrial citric-acid cycle that oxidises acetyl-CoA to CO2, generating NADH, FADH2, and GTP for the electron transport chain.Also known as: citric acid cycle, TCA cycle
- MBBSadmissions
- Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery: the five-year undergraduate medical degree. The MDCAT qualifying threshold for MBBS is 55% (99 of 180).
- MDCATadmissions
- Medical and Dental College Admission Test: the national entry test required for MBBS and BDS admission in Pakistan. The 2026 test was held on 20 September 2026 (PMDC notice, 19 May 2026), with 180 MCQs in 180 minutes and no negative marking.
- Meiosisbiology
- Reductional cell division that produces four genetically unique haploid gametes from one diploid parent cell.Also known as: meiotic division
- Mendelian inheritancebiology
- Pattern of single-gene inheritance described by Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment.
- Mitosisbiology
- Cell division producing two genetically identical daughter cells from one parent cell; underlies tissue growth and repair.Also known as: mitotic division
- Molechemistry
- SI unit of amount containing 6.022 × 10^23 entities (Avogadro's number).
- Momentumphysics
- Vector product of a body's mass and velocity; conserved in an isolated system.
- Newton's second lawphysics
- Net force on a body equals its mass times acceleration (F = ma).
- NUMSadmissions
- National University of Medical Sciences: runs its own entry test for Army Medical College and affiliated colleges. Its aggregate weighting is Matric 10%, FSc 40%, NUMS test 50%.Also known as: National University of Medical Sciences
- Ohm's lawphysics
- For a conductor at constant temperature, current is directly proportional to voltage (V = IR).
- OMR sheetadmissions
- The optical-mark-recognition answer sheet used in the paper-based MDCAT. You shade the correct bubble with a blue ballpoint pen, and the sheet is machine-graded.Also known as: bubble sheet
- Open meritadmissions
- Seats awarded purely on aggregate to any eligible candidate from the province, with no district or category restriction.
- Osmosisbiology
- Net movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane from lower to higher solute concentration.
- Oxidationchemistry
- Loss of electrons by a chemical species, increasing its oxidation state.
- pHchemistry
- Negative base-10 logarithm of the hydronium-ion molar concentration; ranges 0–14 in dilute aqueous solution.
- Photosynthesisbiology
- Conversion of light energy plus CO2 and water into glucose and oxygen by chlorophyll-containing organisms.
- PMDCadmissions
- Pakistan Medical and Dental Council: the national regulator that notifies the MDCAT syllabus, sets eligibility and marking policy, and announces the exam date.Also known as: Pakistan Medical and Dental Council
- Quota seatsadmissions
- Seats reserved for specific categories such as district, regional (AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan), disabled, or children of federal employees, filled on a separate merit list from open merit.
- Reductionchemistry
- Gain of electrons by a chemical species, decreasing its oxidation state.
- Transcriptionbiology
- Synthesis of messenger RNA from a DNA template by RNA polymerase.
- Translationbiology
- Ribosomal synthesis of a polypeptide from an mRNA codon sequence using tRNA-amino-acid carriers.
- Wavelengthphysics
- Spatial distance between two consecutive points of the same phase on a periodic wave.