LAHORE, Aug 3: Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool has approved the revised curricula for BSc Nursing, MBBS First Professional, BDS and postgraduate medical courses.
The revised courses were approved at an Inter-University Faculty Board (IUFB) meeting in the Governor House on Tuesday.
Presenting the revised curricula for four- and two-year BSc Nursing courses, Postgraduate College of Nursing Principal Irshad Begum said the curricula had been revised to give a boost to nursing education and provide a dynamic and innovative setting for clinical experience.
She said the four-year degree programme would be based on university examination policies and would make a nurse eligible for a licence and registered status. She said the programme would equip students with the knowledge, skills and attitude required to become clinically-competent nurses.
She also explained the teaching/learning strategies and students' evaluation criteria. The governor said that the UHS should also devise programmes to run specialized courses for nurses.
MBBS: Services Institute of Medical Sciences' Prof Dr Javed Raza Gardezi presented the MBBS first professional curriculum. He said the curriculum development committee had promoted integration of basic sciences with clinical subjects, while some topics overburdening learners had been deleted.
He said the committee had cut down the number of lectures and laid more focus on practical learning. He said that behavioural sciences had been included in the first two years and a uniform continuous assessment framework laid down with a weightage of 10 per cent.
Prof Gardezi said the committee had proposed no sudden major change but a gradual integration of basic science subjects and a shift to MCQs and short-essay questions (SEQs).
He said the UHS planned to send the revised curricula to experts and seek their feedback. He said this curricula would again be revised after three years. He said the MBBS second professional curricula would have been revised by next month.
Responding to different questions, the governor asked him to review the issue of distribution of marks for basic science subjects. Regarding internal assessment, Prof Gardezi said it would help the faculty know and correct deficiencies of students before the final examination.
The governor also asked the UHS to ensure uniformity of examination dates and publicise the same on its website. He said the UHS should also extensively disseminate information about MCQs and SEQs so that no student might be caught by surprise. The governor also asked the UHS to seek heavy funding from the Higher Education Commission for itself and its affiliated medical and dental colleges.
BDS: The de'Montmorency College of Dental Sciences principal, Prof Dr Rafiq Chatha, presented the BDS curricula, revised after almost three decades. He said the BDS curricula had been revised in detail and some subjects reorganized to facilitate teaching and learning. He said a number of new subjects had been introduced.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) secretary Dr Suhail Karim Hashmi raised an objection that the curriculum committee had changed a subject in violation of council's regulations.
University of Health Sciences vice-chancellor Prof Dr Malik Husain Mubashar told the meeting that the curriculum development committee had placed the subject of chemistry of dental material in the second professional and oral anatomy in the first, while the PMDC regulations placed it otherwise.
In order to settle the issue of placement of subjects in the first or second professional of BDS, the governor asked Prof Chatha to hold a meeting with the PMDC. Dr Hashmi agreed that the PMDC would call a meeting of council's Dental Medical Education Committee for discussing and solving the issue.
POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION: UHS' Postgraduate Medical Education Committee chairman Prof Tariq Salahudin presented the revised curricula for 13 basic sciences and clinical subjects that aimed to create a research environment for clinical and basic sciences, conduct targeted research, train scientists and develop new knowledge.
He said the committee had reviewed all courses of the MD, MS, MDS, M.Phil and PhD programmes. He also explained the training programme requirements. He said the committee for each speciality would revise its curriculum every five years.
Answering a question, Prof Salahudin said the UHS would register candidates for postgraduate studies through the Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lahore. He said the UHS would also look towards more institutions to be upgraded by the government for postgraduate training purposes.
He also said that the UHS was also in the process of launching the mega programme of a postgraduate course in medical education in collaboration with the HEC. Speaking on the occasion, HEC's Human Resources Development advisor Dr Altaf Sheikh said the UHS had done a tremendous job in revising the courses.
He, however, said that the UHS should also include courses for MBBS students to orientate them with the electro medical equipment in hospitals as they would be supposed to use them during their practical work.
He said the HEC was ready to finance all research programmes including purchase of electro medical equipment and establishment of labs. He said the HEC also offered funding for hiring a foreign-qualified faculty.
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