Expanding Horizons of Medical Education: Role of Public Sector Institutions

Rawalpindi

The Scientific Programme of the third Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) International Scientific Conference would be held on March 24 and 25 however the pre-conference workshops entered their final phase and to date, a total of 60 workshops have already been concluded.

The 3rd International Scientific Conference and Reunion on 42nd anniversary of RMC is being held from March 20 to 25 however the series of pre-conference workshops got started last month, on February 18 with the first workshop on ‘synopsis writing’ held at Gynaecology unit 1 of Holy Family Hospital whose director was Professor Rizwana Chaudhri and co-director was Dr. Humaira Bilqis.

The patron of the conference, Principal and Chief Executive Rawalpindi Medical College Professor Dr. Muhammad Umar, stated in his message that being the Rawalian graduate and now proudly the first Rawalian principal, this was his ambition to hold such an endeavour of International standard which aimed to apprise, nurture and globalize masterly technological innovation, knowledge and research of medicine which help the young Rawalians to make an early debut on international stage and share our contributions on the world stage.

He said the second goal of the conference and reunion was to bridge the students of RMC (Young Rawalians) and International Rawalians in USA, UK, Australia, Middle East and other parts of the world who can help in getting electives, research and training slots in developed world. As an epitome of higher education and esteemed for its unmatched academic rigor, the RMC is holding the first ever power point presentation and poster competition under young research forum and Post-graduate trainees’ research forum, he said.

Chairman Organising Committee Professor Muhammad Ajmal stated in his message that it was indeed an occasion of great pride and pleasure for the organizing committee to host 3rd Rawalpindi Medical College International Conference whose theme is “Expanding Horizons of Medical Education: Role of Public Sector Institutions.”

He believes that RMC has always taken a lead to play a pivotal role in this regard and has helped to develop country’s first curriculum for integrated teaching. RMC is the first college to start problem based learning and many more. We have already established the state of the art, fully staffed and functional Medical Education Department. The preconference workshops in almost all the disciplines will go a long way to exchange the knowledge and skills, he said.

In her message, Co-chairperson of the Organizing Committee Professor Rizwana Chaudhri states that she feels privileged to be a member of remarkable group that has been across numerous barriers to achieve wonderful results. This journey with RMC started with the mission to bring Rawalians under one roof in order to enhance each other’s future prospects. Hopefully our mission will continue to progress and enable young talents to prosper under experienced and honourable supervision, she said.

Chairman of Scientific Committee of the conference Professor Fareed Aslam Minhas stated that he was deeply impressed by the leadership of RMC and would like to congratulate them for their commitment perseverance. My experience with the first two conferences and the positive impact that they created, led me reflexively to respond positively when Professor Umar shared his plan with me, he said.

He stated in his message that the invaluable opportunity for the budding health professionals of RMC to interact with the paragons of their alma mater from around the world and follow in their footsteps, is something he would never flinch to contribute. This year’s theme aptly represents RMC’s unique position in the education sector. The RMC inducts the brain trust of the country year upon year and it is critical that this burden is shouldered with state-of-the-art medical education methodologies, he said.

He said the conference, as always, will comprise of scientific sessions for paper presentations from diverse disciplines, plenary lectures by exemplars in our field, poster presentations, and pre-conference workshops.

General Secretary of the organizing committee Professor Jahangir Sarwar Khan said that the organizers are struggling to bring the Rawalians working all over the world to a platform by which they can bestow and contribute to progression and advancements of Rawalpindi Medical College. In this way, we can boost the standard of RMC and also the patient care, ultimately serving the humanity in excellent way, he said.

It is important to mention here that a total of 73 pre-conference workshops have been planned under the 3rd International Scientific Conference till March 23, before the scientific program to be held on March 24 and 25.