October 29, 2008	Wednesday	Shawwal 29, 1429

KARACHI, Oct 28: As there are no rules and regulations for vital healthcare experts who are the backbone of any hospital and are responsible for life and death of patients in critical condition, a regulatory body would be set up which would formulate rules and regulations for medical technologists in the country.

The director of the Institute of Medical Technology (IMT) at Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Karachi said this on Tuesday.

He said after the doctors, medical technologists were considered as the most important team members of any hospital system.

“These experts are directly responsible for life and death of patients, especially one in critical condition,” Dr Syed Sarwat Hussan said.

Dr Sarwat said experts at IMT were working on a draft of a regulatory authority and service structure for the medical technologists in the country.

He said that they were planning to give medical technologist with four-year degree a status equal to a doctor, and their induction in the service would in grade-17.

He said IMT was the first medical technology institute in the country offering four-year BSc degree courses in the field of clinical pathology, critical care, operation theatre and ophthalmology.

“There is only one other institute at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad offering four-year BSc degree programme, but it has only one technology — the clinical pathology, while the IMT Karachi offers this programme in four medical technologies.”—PPI