KARACHI: Fate of medical students hangs in balance
By Mukhtar Alam
KARACHI, Nov 18: Many students of the Dow Medical College and the Sindh Medical College, enrolled with the University of Karachi, are still in a state of confusion as authorities concerned are failing to do the needful in their case.
They are not clear whether they would be handed a KU degree or otherwise, after completing their respective professional examinations, campus sources said.
The lot of confused students included those who were admitted to the DMC and SMC last year, and their First Professional (Part-A) MBBS examinations under the KU were due in January next. It was also learnt that the KU would start accepting the First Prof exam forms within a week or two.
About 450 students of First Prof from both the colleges in question were already affiliated with the KU, like the previous batches of medical students. However, the Dow University of Health Sciences had also recently carried out enrolment in their case.
Inviting fresh enrolment by the DUHS from those already enrolled with the KU was nothing but to add to the confusion. In a situation when the enrolment of students was intact with the KU, a re-enrolment was a clear breach of KU's jurisdiction and rules, said a senior KU administrative official.
The only alternative with the DUHS was to observe the resolutions passed by the KU's academic council in its meeting of October 23. The meeting provided a legal way out to the DUHS, which desired an en-bloc transfer of about 3,000 students of different years from the KU to it and to hold their exams as well, added the official.
It was learnt that the related observations and resolution of the academic council had already been sent to the DUHS authorities, but the latter had till date failed to respond or act. This was growing concern among the students in question who had already taken their professional examinations under the KU.
The KU had informed the DUHS that there should be a progressive approach towards the transfer of students, instead of creating and fanning counter productive issues, said the official.
He added that though the DUHS had been unable to give any exact reason for the transfer of enrolment of students from KU to it, the KU wanted to keep all legal aspects in view to avoid any complication or frustration among the students, who, in the absence of any fresh consent from them, were still the liability of the KU and not the DUHS.
When contacted, the KU Vice-Chancellor, Dr Pirzada Qasim, said that he wanted to go by the book and had already asked the DUHS to observe the formalities. "We have also sent a pro forma, which should be filled and signed by the students desiring transfer of enrolment from KU," he added.
To another question, he said that carrying out fresh enrolment, as reported in the press, was uncalled for and the KU would contact the DUHS on the issue.
The DUHS VC, Dr Masood Hameed, said that the KU's requirement to give an option of either a KU or DUHS degree, or for collecting applications from every individual for an NOC with regard to their transfer from KU was out of the question.
There is no precedence of such an exercise in the past, he added, asking whether KU would hold exams for those DMC and SMC students preferring to stay enrolled with it (KU).
He said that he had got justifications for his all actions and would sort out things after his meeting with the KU VC soon.
Commenting on developments in this regard, the former dean of medicine faculty of KU and a senior professor at the DUHS, Dr Tipu Sultan, said that he feared that students whose transfer was being sought from KU might suffer.
"Those who would be proceeding for postgraduate education abroad immediately after acquiring a degree from the DUHS would have to produce a lot of documents and struggle regarding their acceptance at foreign institutions.
He opined that it would be viable for the DUHS to care for the enrolment and conduct of examinations of those being admitted to the university at present, instead of transferring the burden of 3,000 students to its new examination department all of a sudden.
By the time the first batch of Dow graduates is out after about five years, the university administration would surely have been able to get the university familiarized with reputed foreign universities and the World Health Organization, he remarked.
