‘Medical curriculum should focus on national needs’

LAHORE
Curriculum for medical colleges should be designed according to national needs focusing more on primary healthcare.
Minister for State for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Saira Afzal Tarar said this while addressing the inaugural ceremony of an international conference on medical education at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) here on Friday. She also said curriculum was not a static document rather it was a dynamic process. It has to respond to changing needs of society and country, she added.
The state minister also said shift to an integrated, system-based medical curriculum represented an international trend adding the government faced a lot of challenges with regard to health sector.
UHS Vice Chancellor Maj Gen (r) Prof Muhammad Aslam said sustained efforts in medical education world have visible impact on healthcare, healthcare delivery and more importantly the matters related to curriculum planning, faculty development, leadership and accreditation. He added it was important to adopt effective medical curricula and teaching methodologies where students could gain essential competencies.
UHS Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Junaid Sarfraz Khan stressed the need of developing standardised, contextually relevant integrated curriculum. He was of the view that recent attempts in implementing integrated curricula in the country faced a number of challenges including lack of awareness amongst the stakeholders regarding the matter and the subject, inability to provide relevant evidence in support for the change and poor or non-existent faculty development initiatives.
The foreign keynote speakers of the conference include Dr Ara Tekian, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, USA; Dr John J. Norcini, President and CEO, Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER), USA; Dr John R. Boulet, Vice President FAIMER, USA; Dr Madawa Chandratilake, University of Dundee, UK; Dr David Taylor, School of Medicine, University of Liverpool, UK; Dr Vikram Jha, Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Dr Kay Mohanna, Director of Postgraduate Studies, Keele University School of Medicine, UK; Dr Gominda Ponnamperuma, Medical Education Development and Research Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka; Dr Gohar Wajid, University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Dr Alam Sher Malik, Quest International University, Malaysia; Dr Shane Knox, National Ambulance College, Dublin, Ireland and Dr Gerard Bury, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Notice: The secretary health Punjab has issued a show cause notice to Professor of Surgery Dr Manan Babar under the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability Act 2006 on the charge of willful absence from duty w.e.f. 20-02-2014 and non-compliance of government notification regarding his transfer to Gujranwala Medical College Gujranwala.
According to a press release, Dr Abdul Manan Babar has been asked to reply to a show cause notice in writing within seven days of the receipt of the notice failing which it would be presumed that he has no defene to offer. In case reply to the notice not received within the stipulated period, ex-parte decision would be taken against him as provided under Section 7 (C) of the PEEDA Act 2006, states the press release.
women package: Secretary Women Development Department Punjab Dr. Amna Imam has said the implementation on Women Package-2015 is being ensured.
Presiding over a departmental meeting, Dr. Amna Imam said that various steps have been taken under the women package for the benefit of working as well as domestic women. She said that thousands of house workers have been imparted training with the cooperation of the ILO and APWA.
The meeting was informed that contracts for canteens of educational institutions are being given to women and it is also be ensured that all workers in the canteen are female. The meeting also reviewed the project of working women hostels and daycare centres.
polls: The Punjab Commission on the Status of Women has planned to monitor the forthcoming Local Government elections from women’s perspective to observe any infringement of political rights of women or incidents of election related violence against women.
The Commission has also appealed to all the women voters and candidates to report via SMS at Cell No 0321-4724161 in case of election related violence or any other incident where women are deprived to exercise their political rights or email at email ID ‘comp.pcsw.gov.pk’. All such incidents would be reported and referred by the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women to the Election Commission of Punjab. PCSW members and staff will observe polling stations in all the 12 districts of Punjab where elections are being held.