Once unheard-of, Pakistan today has several private medical colleges spread all over the country. Most of these colleges are not housed in proper buildings, do not have adequate qualified faculty and lack a proper hospital facilities. Every now and then medical officials and the Press raise concern about their standards and at the kind of product they are bound to produce. But this has not stopped the opening of new colleges. Some of these are even not known to the medical community at large.
Amidst this unsatisfactory state of affairs, one is really thrilled to see an alma matter in a remote corner of the country which can rightly claim to be a proper medical college. Just a few kilometres from the centre of NWFP’s beautiful mountain town, Abbottabad (once just a hill station), on the main Karakorum Highway, passing by the famous Abbottabad Public School at a turn, one can see two majestic columns of white buildings in the foot of hills which are covered with pine trees.
This is the Frontier Medical College (FMC). I knew about this college, but only recently had the opportunity to visit it for the first time along with some senior medical professionals and a journalist.
The Frontier Medical College was found in 1996, in a small hurriedly-constructed block. Today, it has a proper building and a seven-storey hospital. The hospital has opened its out-patient clinics, but it is soon to be formally inaugurated by the President of Pakistan. The college is affiliated with Bahria University, Islamabad, and has so far produced over 100 doctors.
Our group was impressed with the quality, space, furnishing and decor of the buildings. The classrooms, laboratories, library and the auditorium are appropriate to the status of a college. The Basic Medical Sciences Department is staffed with the experienced and qualified faculty. It was most gratifying to note that the faculty in such a remote corner of Pakistan comprises people from all over the country, giving the college a national character.
The college for its teaching facility has made a wonderful arrangement with the District Headquarters Hospital, Mansehra, which is 13km from the campus. In this unique private-public partnership programme, the college utilizes the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) facility for student’s clinical training, and in return the college administration pays to the provincial government a handsome amount. The college has also added a new block to the DHQ Hospital. This arrangement is in the interest of both the college and the govt. But the patients are the main beneficiaries as they are now enjoying the care of a teaching hospital. In my humble opinion, the example of this kind of private-public partnership should be followed all over the country.
With the commissioning of a new hospital on the campus, the students will have excellent clinical facilities. We were told by the college authorities that the treatment provided in the campus hospital will be free of cost.
While visiting the college ,the thing which struck me most was the serenity and tranquillity of the atmosphere which provides an ideal environment for studies. The students in their proper uniforms provide an excellent sight of discipline. They come from all parts of the country as well as overseas.
To build a challenge in such a remote corner of the country where everything has to be transported from outside is a great task. The fact is that most of the buildings were constructed after cutting mountains— a process which is going on to provide space for other buildings, including student hostels. The founders deserve compliments, and indeed they have done a great job.
When you go around the college, you are lost in the beauty and tranquillity of the surroundings. For a moment one wishes to be a student in such a campus. Having lived in Karachi for a long time, a place with no pollution of any kind sounded to me like a mini-paradise.
Our country needs doctors to match the growing population, but there should be a standard criteria of requirement to be fulfilled before a college is given the due recognition.
Educational institutions ought to be set up at such serene places whose atmosphere help out students in studying. The FMC is a good model of a private medical college to be followed by others. It proves the fact that Himmat-i-Mardaan madad-i-Khuda (God helps those who help themselves).
Once unheard-of, Pakistan today has several private medical colleges spread all over the country. Most of these colleges are not housed in proper buildings, do not have adequate qualified faculty and lack a proper hospital facilities. Every now and then medical officials and the Press raise concern about their standards and at the kind of product they are bound to produce. But this has not stopped the opening of new colleges. Some of these are even not known to the medical community at large.
