RAWALPINDI: CPSP chief fears expulsion of Pakistani doctors from West in two years
By Our Staff Reporter
RAWALPINDI, Jan 11: Pakistani doctors will be expelled from the West in the next two years, the president of College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP), Dr Sultan Farooqui, said here on Saturday.
He was speaking to the academic staff of the Rawalpindi Medical College at an interactive session following the inauguration of the sub-regional office of the CPSP in the college premises.
He said this was his personal reading in the backdrop of the current international scenario. However, the CPSP did not stop anyone from going anywhere.
He said the United Kingdom had already banned the registration of expatriates as specialists. He said under such circumstances it was important that “we develop our own system honestly”.
About the role of medical academicians, he said they were performing a national duty. He warned them that their negligence in fulfilling this important duty could cost them heavily.
He said he personally knew of a renowned doctor, who had made it a point not to transfer his expertise to others.
“Lets disseminate knowledge and not be misers,” he said, and added “you would be remembered for what you have taught to your students and the skills you pass on to them”.
He said people spoke about financial and administrative constraints, but this was not true. It is rather more a question of will, he added.
Responding to a query by a doctor, Dr Farooqui said the Punjab government had about 3,000 posts for which recruitment had not been made through Punjab Public Service Commission since 1994-95. He said the CPSP had taken up this case with the government.
Earlier, in his speech to the students and teachers of the RMC, he said there was a possibility that a national registration examination was started for registration of the MBBS doctors with Pakistan Medical and Dental Council.
“This is under consideration, but there isn’t any need to worry about as the final decision would be taken after thorough consultations,” he added.
He said the CPSP would provide Qarz-i-Hasana to the doctors for high-tech training in the field of education. This loan would be returnable in three years.
He regretted that the postgraduate trainees working at the teaching hospitals were taken as bonded labour. However, through the efforts of the CPSP, he said it was now mandatory to give a stipend equal to the basic pay of BPS-17 officer to the trainee doctors.
The health care services at the tertiary care institutions have improved due to the PG trainees, he said. There are 4,175 medical graduates, who were undergoing FCPS-2 training, most of whom (3,088) were in public sector hospitals, while 687 were at private institutions and remaining 400 at armed forces hospitals.
The CPSP, he said, had decided to derecognize any institution that would enlist honorary trainees. Similarly, the hospitals have been asked not to allot training slot to anyone, who has not cleared the FCPS-1, he added.
Advising the students on choice of specialization, he said it was an era of sub-specialities. He said instead of choosing the over-saturated specialities like surgery the students should opt for more promising fields like nephrology, urology, plastic surgery, dermatology and pathology.
He said there was an extreme shortage of radiologists and anaesthetists in the country.
Dr Farooqui said those who had cleared FCPS-1 after January 2001 would now have to appear for an intermediate examination after two years of training following FCPS-1. He said with the start of this system the pass percentage in the FCPS-2 would improve.
The deputy dean of the RMC and allied hospital, Dr M.H. Mubashir, said lack of direction for the graduating students often resulted in casualties, some join civil services, others go for MBA, while the less blessed become medical transcriptors.
“I’ve also heard of a doctor enrolled as a sub-inspector police and another working as a bursar in PIA,” he said, and added that it was to prevent young graduates from utter confusion and chaos that Dr Farooqui had been invited here.
Dr Mubashir said the inauguration of sub-regional office of the CPSP would prove to be a turning point not only for postgraduate education, but for continuing professional education in the region.
