Students and researchers planning to pursue a postgraduate medical, dental, or health-sciences qualification in Pakistan now have a concrete deadline to work toward: the National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS), Rawalpindi, opened online applications for its Spring 2027 postgraduate intake on October 6, 2026. With the regular submission window closing October 30, this is the kind of deadline that is easy to miss if you are still finishing exams or waiting on provisional degree documents, so it is worth laying out exactly what is open, what it costs, and what comes next.

Key dates for the Spring 2027 cycle

According to the admission schedule NUMS has published for this cycle, applicants should plan around the following:

• Online applications opened: October 6, 2026
• Regular deadline (standard processing fee): October 30, 2026, by 4:00 PM
• Late deadline (higher processing fee): November 4, 2026, by 4:00 PM
• Admit cards released via the NUMS online portal: November 12, 2026
• Entry tests: November 17 and 18, 2026 (candidates must report by 9:00 AM; testing begins at 10:00 AM)
• Specialized assessments, including for MS Clinical Psychology: November 26, 2026
• Interviews: December 1 to 8, 2026
• Final merit list: December 16, 2026
• Classes begin: January 4, 2027 for most PhD, MPhil, and master's programs; February 15, 2027 for psychology tracks and clinical certifications

Because admission timelines at any university can shift, treat these as the schedule reported at the time of writing and double-check the live dates on the official NUMS admissions portal before you submit anything or make travel plans around a test date.

Processing fees

NUMS charges a non-refundable processing fee of Rs. 3,000 for applications submitted within the regular window. Applying after October 30 but before the late cutoff of November 4 raises that fee to Rs. 5,000. If you intend to apply to more than one program, budget for a separate processing fee per program, since NUMS treats each application independently.

Which programs are open

The Spring 2027 intake spans a wide range of postgraduate qualifications:

• PhD programs: Biochemistry, Molecular Medicine, Pharmacology, Public Health, Science of Dental Materials, Pathology, and Psychology
• MPhil programs: Anatomy, Physiology, Community Medicine, Oral Pathology, Chemical Pathology, Microbiology, and Haematology
• Master's programs: Health Professions Education, MS Clinical Psychology, MS Transfusion Medicine, and MSc Cardiac Anesthesia
• Nursing: Master of Science in Nursing, open to female candidates only
• Diploma: Cardiology
• Clinical certifications: Interventional Radiology, and Hybrid Imaging PET-CT Scan

This spread means the intake serves quite different kinds of applicants, from working clinicians adding a sub-specialty certification to graduates aiming at a research-focused PhD. Before you apply, read the specific eligibility criteria for your target program rather than assuming your basic degree automatically qualifies you, since entry requirements vary considerably between a diploma, an MPhil, and a PhD track.

How to apply

Applications go through the NUMS online admission system only; the university does not accept hard-copy forms for this intake. After submitting your application, you pay the processing fee before the relevant deadline. Candidates should start gathering supporting material early, since postgraduate applications typically call for more documentation than undergraduate ones:

• A clear, well-scoped research proposal if you're applying to a research degree (PhD or MPhil)
• Professional certificates or registration documents relevant to your field (particularly for clinical certification tracks)
• Provisional degree certificates or transcripts if your final degree documents are still being processed

Once applications close, candidates sit for the general admission test (GAT) or the relevant health-sciences admission test (HAT), followed by specialized assessments for certain programs and then interviews. Watch the official portal in mid-November for your admit card and test venue, since NUMS does not appear to notify candidates individually ahead of that.

A few practical tips

If you are still waiting on your final transcript, do not let that stop you from starting the application with provisional documents, since many Pakistani postgraduate programs accept these at the application stage and ask for final documents later in the process. If you are applying to a research-based program, start your research proposal now rather than in the final week; a vague or last-minute proposal is one of the most common reasons strong candidates lose ground at the shortlisting stage. And if your intended program has a female-only intake, like the MSc in Nursing here, or a specific professional-registration requirement, confirm that detail against the program page before you pay any processing fee, since fees are explicitly non-refundable.

With the regular deadline just over two weeks away from the application opening, students considering a NUMS postgraduate program this cycle have a narrow but workable window to get their documents in order and apply before the window closes.