UHS plans to revamp medical colleges syllabi

LAHORE: The 29th meeting of the Academic Council of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) was held here on Monday for the first time at the varsity's Jinnah Campus, Kala Shah Kaku, where it was decided to bring the existing curriculum of medical colleges up to international standards on a priority basis.

UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Javed Akram presided over the meeting. Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof Maroof Aziz, Registrar Dr Asad Zaheer, Director Operations Jinnah Campus Dr Farhan Zahid, Director Administration Ijaz Hussain besides principals and senior faculty members of affiliated medical and dental colleges were present.

In his address, Vice-Chancellor Prof Javed Akram said that it was the responsibility of the University of Health Sciences to bring the curricula of medical and dental colleges in line with modern requirements. He said that an advisory committee had been constituted in this regard which would soon submit its recommendations.

He said that some experts were in favour of modular while some are in favour of annual-based system and both had their arguments. He also announced that a medical and dental college and a research hospital would be set up on the new campus.

He said that the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof Maroof Aziz was looking after the affairs of the new campus well for which he was grateful to him and the Campus Director Dr Farhan Zahid. Prof Javed Akram said that 64 research papers of the university were published in high impact journals during the Covid-19 pandemic. "Our work has been recognized internationally", said Prof Javed Akram who also informed the participants that all the teaching departments were being gradually shifted to Jinnah Campus. In addition, the departments of Medical Journalism and Research and Health Informatics would be launched soon, he added.

Principal, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Professor Abdul Majeed Ch said that the curriculum of 1947 is still being taught in medical colleges. Many attempts were made to standardise the curriculum but failed. He said that he had developed an integrated curriculum four years ago which was facing difficulties in implementation. "There is a need to integrate basic medical sciences into clinical sciences", Prof Abdul Majeed Ch said, adding that Dr Javed Akram wanted to bring the curriculum in line with modern requirements. He said the new curriculum should be introduced in colleges as a pilot project first. UHS Director Medical Education, Col (retd) Khalid Rahim, said by 2024, the medical curriculum must be revamped in accordance with the standards of the World Federation for Medical Education. He said that to achieve that purpose, in the first phase, subject advisory committees had been formed for the preparation of the new curriculum. "It is hoped that within a year the university will develop a standardised curriculum for medical colleges in line with international standards", he added. Later, an MoU signing ceremony was held between the UHS and the Punjab Forest Department. The agreement is part of Prime Minister Imran Khan's "Clean Green Pakistan" programme.