New curriculum for MBBS

LAHORE
To provide students with a patient-centred and disease-focused medical education, and as a crucial step towards the introduction of semester or modular system in medical colleges, the University of Health Sciences (UHS) is developing a new integrated curriculum for MBBS programme.
According to a press release issued here on Wednesday, to develop this curriculum in which the formal “class room” knowledge will be integrated with clinical experience, University of Health Sciences has constituted 14 subject specialists committees, headed by senior academicians.
The committee for the subject of anatomy is headed by Prof Attiya Mubarik, physiology by Prof Hamid Javed Qureshi, biochemistry by Dr Nasreen Sharif, community medicine by Prof Musarrat Ramzan, pharmacology by Prof Mohammad Saeed Anwar, behavioural sciences by Dr Mowadat Hussain Rana, pathology by Dr Ghazala Jaffery, ENT by Prof Najam-ul-Husnain, eye by Prof Nadeem Hafeez Butt, surgery by Prof Mehmood Ayyaz, medicine by Prof Sajid Nisar, gynaecology by Dr Sohail K. Lodhi, paediatrics by Dr Humayun Iqbal Khan, and of forensic medicine by Dr Aamir Bashir. This team has been further strengthened by the presence of fifteen medical educationists.
UHS Department of Medical Education has organized a three-day training workshop for the members of these committees which started on Wednesday.
The workshop is being facilitated by the Dean, Quest International University, Perak, Malaysia, Prof Dr Alam Sher Malik.
During the workshop, Prof Alam will review the submissions of each committee and integrate them into a five year modular calendar and time table.
UHS Pro-VC, Dr Junaid S. Khan, inaugurated the workshop. He said that the development of the curriculum was only the first step towards meeting the World Federation for Medical Education standards for accreditation of the MBBS programme.
“The implementation of an integrated contextually relevant curriculum that puts emphasis on the development of self-directed life-long adult learning traits and focuses on experiential learning of skills, attitudes and concepts will require considerable logistics and human resources challenges to be met by all stakeholders”, he added.
Dr Junaid said once a contextually relevant modular curriculum designed to meet the requirements of the Pakistani medical education and healthcare delivery system was available, further plans to build the capacity of all institutions across the length and breadth of Punjab could be formulated before implementing the curriculum.
He clarified that the curriculum would go through necessary approvals from various statuary bodies of the UHS before it could be implemented.