Pakistani-American physicians share expertise with students

LAHORE
A GROUP of seven American physicians of Pakistani origin travelled from various parts of the United States (US) to Lahore to share their knowledge and expertise with students and faculty at various medical institutions.
They were here on the invitation of the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP), also known as the Fulbright Commission. During their a weeklong stay, the visiting doctors delivered lectures on various disciplines of medicine and conducted a five-day workshop attended by more than 800 faculty and students of the C.M.H. Lahore Medical College, Lahore Medical and Dental College, and Shalimar Medical and Dental College.
The visiting American physicians also conducted an orientation session on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) and application.
In the closing ceremony held at CMH Medical College, Lt Gen (r) Prof Dr Syed Afzal Ahmad, Principal of CMH, and Ms. Rita Akhtar, Executive Director USEFP, thanked the visiting physicians Dr Mazhar Rishi (Pathology), Dr Wasif Qureshi (Interventional Cardiology), Dr Qasim Ansari (Clinical Pathologist), Dr Khurshid Iqbal (Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology), Dr Shakaib Qureshi (Rheumatology), Dr Waqas Ahmed (Nephrology), and Dr Muhammad Arif (Hematology and Oncology) for dedicating their valuable time and expertise to enrich Pakistani medical education.
This visit of Pakistani-American physicians is part of an ongoing programme enabling Pakistani health professionals to contribute to medical education in Pakistan. The first group of doctors to visit under this USEFP-organised programme was hosted by Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Islamabad in December 2013.
The programme is designed to assist many physicians in the US, especially those of Pakistani heritage, who would like to help improve medical education in Pakistan and are even willing to do so at their own expense but are not sure how to go about it most effectively.
GCU: United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted a patent to the Government College University’s Nano-Fertiliser that produces healthy food and significantly increases the crop yield.
It was revealed by the Government College University (GCU) Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Khaleeq-ur-Rahman through a notification to the university’s academic and administrative heads, including Director, Research Innovation and Commercialisation, who will forward it to the country’s leading fertiliser industries for future collaboration.
The ‘Nano-Leucite Fertiliser’ invented by a group of GCU young scientists led by Dr Muhammad Akhyar Farrukh, an associate professor of Chemistry, is a revolution for green environment as it ensures minimum nutrient loss in food and increases overall production.
Prof Rahman said keeping in view the global food crisis, it is necessary to increase the food production. ‘Fertilisers which are in practice now have a major disadvantage that 50 percent of nutrient contents loss due to leaching and also leads to ground water contamination. He said Nano-Leucite Fertilizer, invented by the GCU scientists, is a specialised slow release nitrogenous fertiliser in which they had a minimum nutrient loss due to leaching.
To be more scientific, he said Potassium Aluminum Silicate (Leucite) nano-particles occluded by calcium ammonium nitrates were slow release fertilisers and were synthesised by hydrothermal method. The VC said stage had come at GCU where young scientists were talking about innovations and inventions. However, he said, there was dire need that these innovations and inventions were transformed into technology by the industry, so that Pakistan could develop and emerge on the world map as prosperous nation. He proudly said Dr Farrukh, representing GCU, got third US patent to his credit.
Prof Rahman expressed gratitude to Higher Education Commission (HEC) for their support for registering the patent at international level.