KARACHI, May 31: The Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, and the University of Health Sciences, Lahore, on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for joint academic activities.
The DUHS Vice-Chancellor, Prof Masood Hameed, and Prof Malik H Mubashir, VC of the University of Health Sciences, formally endorsed the MoU in a simple ceremony at the DUHS.
Under the arrangement, both universities will mainly focus on collaborative research programmes, PhD programmes besides coordination in the examination systems, Dr Masood Hameed told APP.
Earlier, Dr Malik Mubashir, speaking at the certificate distribution ceremony organized by the DUHS Computer Learning Centre and Lab, appreciated the initiative taken under the community and university partnership to enhance professional skills of the medical community.
“It is appreciable to witness that a significant number of DUHS faculty members and Civil Hospital Karachi's doctors as well as family physicians from different parts of the city were registered for the programme.”
He also appreciated the pharmaceutical company that had sponsored the programme for setting up a healthy precedence and funding training programmes at a tertiary care level for medical teachers, researchers and doctors instead of arranging gifts and complementary trips for individuals.
Prof Mubashir said that pharmaceutical companies should come forward in facilitating research work, conducting workshops and advanced teacher training programmes in public sector medical colleges and varsities for improving the standard of medical studies.
“I am very positive regarding students in the medical profession in Pakistan, who only need proper directions and assistance in improving the quality of research according to international status,” he said.
Dr Masood Hameed said the DUHS was presently involved in 11 different projects aimed at capacity building and competency of the varsity’s faculty members as well as general medical practitioners, family physicians and teachers.
These schemes, he said, were being initiated in coordination with the Higher Education Commission, SPELT and other relevant institutions.
The DUHS VC also reiterated his commitment to strengthen the undergraduate medical education programme at the varsity and its affiliated institutions.
The varsity besides initiating programmes for capacity building for medical graduates and undergraduates has also embarked upon the initiative to help the country become self sufficient in medical technologists, nurses and dentists.
Prof Masood emphasized the need for community-university partnership for academic excellence, development of human resources and use of information technology by conducting regular research workshops in different medical varsities of Pakistan especially for medical students belonging to less developed areas.
He said that the DUHS would sign MoUs with more international and local medical universities in the near future for collaborative studies.
A high official of the pharmaceutical company sponsoring the event in his speech said that the annual turnover of pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan was Rs80 billion and this was to increase further in future.
He said that if these companies donated only 10 per cent of their income to medical colleges and varsities, the scenario of the medical education and profession would change resulting in enormous development.
At the end of the programme, gold medal was awarded to Dr Iftikhar, silver medal to Dr S Tabassum, bronze medal to Dr Ammara Jamal for securing positions in MS Office course.
The principals of the Dow and Sindh medical colleges, Prof Salahuddin Afsar and Prof Tariq Sharafatullah, respectively, MS of Civil Hospital Dr Kaleem Butt, senior professors and faculty members were also present.—APP/PPI
