While reminding obligations to the new young doctors Prof. Hafizullah said as you enter into your practical field, putting on these elegant robes, let me remind you that your are not an ordinary doctor, remember that you are a Pakistani Muslim doctor hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. You have to behave as a Muslim honoring the commitments and abiding by the high standards set by Allah and his Prophet Mohammad (S’A’W’W) for us. As a Pakistani you have to serve your country and nation, you have to work within the meager resources and try your best to offer evidence based medicine according to their pocket. And very importantly you have to strive hard to improve the condition of our hospitals. The province has spent a lot of resources on you. The province demands that you should look after the poor and downtrodden people living in rural areas. You should specialize in areas where there is dire need. You should also concentrate not only on treating ailment but more importantly prevention of diseases and promotion of health. As doctors besides shouldering medical responsibilities you should contribute to social uplift of the society. Remember at the other end is not a faceless disease but a living person rather and a whole family behind him/her.
He further said “today indeed was a unique occasion where many dreams have come true and many of you will enter into practical field. You must have thought this is the end of story and perhaps hard works but remember this is not the end of journey, this is the start of new and never ending expedition of hard work and learning.”
VC KMU emphasized that we at KMU and GMC have worked very hard with you. We have tried to inculcate the best values in you and develop you as a self learner. We may not have taught you everything but surely we have taught you how and where to find the knowledge whenever it is required. He remarked KMU is committed to encourage & support all the medical colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including GMC in the activities related to Teaching, Training, Assessment and Research.
VC KMU emphasized that we at KMU and GMC have worked very hard with you. We have tried to inculcate the best values in you and develop you as a self learner. We may not have taught you everything but surely we have taught you how and where to find the knowledge whenever it is required. He remarked KMU is committed to encourage & support all the medical colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including GMC in the activities related to Teaching, Training, Assessment and Research.
At the end the VC congratulated the graduates, their parents and faculty of GMC D.I. Khan. Earlier the VC confers MBBS Degrees to the qualified graduates of GMC
VC KMU Prof. Dr. Mohammad Hafizullah said that currently the medical and dental institutions are following the annual system of examination. Under this system the assessment is done at the end of the year. Most of the students start serious study near end of the year and especially during preparation holidays. To overcome this problem most of the institutions other than medical have changed their system into semester system. Specific time is allotted to each course which is finished in time and there is continuous evaluation. This keeps both the faculty and students busy throughout the year.
He said that KMU is committed to replace the 20th century medical curriculum with that of the 21st century; therefore KMU is keenly engaged in the reformation of the medical curriculum and to change the annual system into semester system. The main feature of these reforms is adaptation of integration of the medical curriculum, he added.
VC KMU appreciated the interest taken by the principals of the public and private sector medical colleges of the province and hoped that in modifying the curriculum all the principals and faculties of the public and private medical colleges will support the proposed plan of KMU.
While talking to the symposium Prof. Dr. Sultan Mehmood, Principal, Khyber Medical College, Peshawar informed the participants in great detail about work done by him and his committee for the semesterization of the curriculum. He emphasized on the framework, teaching methodology, and assessment. He also pointed some of the difficulties in implementing the Semester System. However, these difficulties can easily overcome if there is conviction and motivation by the university and faculty of the medical institutions.
Ms Sheilla Pinjani of the Department of Medical Education, Aga Khan University was also speaking in detail on the integration of medical curriculum. She emphasized that in the current system each subject is taught in isolation. There should be gradual shift towards integration of various subjects taught in the medical and dental institutions. Later participants were divided into various groups to prepare recommendations on various aspects of integration of curriculum.
It is worth mentioning that this symposium was a part of program which KMU has started for change in medical curriculum and annual system. A number of similar workshops were conducted previously with the help of faculty from Aga Khan University and Rawalpindi Medical University. At the end of the workshop Prof. Dr. Mohammad Hafizullah, VC KMU distributed certificates among the participants.
