LAHORE, Nov 22: The World Health Organization's steering committee has extended the designation of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan's (CPSP) medical education department as WHO collaborating centre for "training in research and educational development of health personnel" to December 2007.

This was stated by WHO EMRO region's regional director Dr Husein A Gezairy in his letter sent to CPSP president Prof Dr Sultan Farooqui.

According to the letter, the terms of reference of the centre will be development of appropriate strategies for the education and practice of health professionals with increased scope to include undergraduate medical education and para-professionals education; collaboration between WHO and medical education department regarding the orientation of medical education and medical practice for health for all; conduct of training courses and workshops with increased emphasis on research in medical education; research in medical education; implementation of national continued medical education (CME) policy and its expansion to include other health professionals; collaboration with the ministry of health in developing a national programme for human resource for health.

It may be mentioned that the medical education department in CPSP was established in 1979 and the Pakistan government had designated it as a "National Teacher Training Centre" in 1996, while the WHO designated it its collaborating centre for research and training in educational development of health personnel" for the EMRO region.

CPSP president Prof Farooqui said the WHO collaborating centre was already organizing a variety of workshops and courses on educational concepts, methodology and their application to health professionals' education in various cities of the country.

Through these workshops, he said, teachers associated with healthcare professions, physicians, nurses and paramedical staff were being introduced to the science of education and its application to their day-to-day working.

He said the department was providing guidance and training to the professionals who would, in turn, teach health professionals. It was also planning strategies for the education and practice of health professionals, assisting in the preparation of examinations and carrying out post-exam analysis. He said that many of these steps were crucial to attaining and sustaining quality assurance.

Prof Farooqui said the centre was holding regular developmental and review meetings for exchange of innovative ideas and critique of the current format to provide the latest information to national medical experts.