August 31, 2006

Dr Farooqui was given the 1997 ‘Man ofthe Year’ award by the American Biographical Institute Board of International Research (US) for ‘overall accomplishments and contributions to society in the fields of medical science, including health planning and health management in Pakistan.’ In 2004 the President of Pakistan conferred upon him the ‘Sitara-i-Imtiaz’

Muhammad Sultan Farooqui is a Doctor of Medicine and a formidable Fellow, holding no less than 13 Fellowships of prestigious professional bodies from around the world. His visiting card makes for impressive reading, and the face proffering it is clearly animated with the passion for performance, and excellence at the cutting edge.

These, after all, are matters that quite literally deal with life and death, and perhaps more importantly, the quality of life of a body and mind besieged by the rigours of life in the fast lane. He presides over the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, as elected President, and has done so for the last eight years in succession, turning the 10 acres spread into an oasis that nurtures the imbibing of high end skills in what was once known as the noblest of all professions.

“The College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) was established as a Statutory Body in 1962 under an ordinance that later became an act of Parliament,” says Dr Farooqui, sitting in his plush offices overlooking well appointed, manicured gardens. There is a sense of well-defined purpose in the air, and a controlled urgency that testifies to the seriousness of the work in progress.

Says Dr Farooqui, “The CPSP was designed on the pattern of the Royal Colleges of the United Kingdom and Ireland that comprise a 500-year old system followed by England, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Pakistan and South Africa. The objective was, and remains, to train the future specialists of Pakistan within Pakistan at international levels, hold examinations and certify them. It is a postgraduate medical university and doctors qualifying from here in various specialties are known as its Fellows.”

He was awarded the 1997 ‘Man of the Year’ by the American Biographical Institute Board of International Research (US) for ‘overall accomplishments and contributions to society in the fields of medical science, including health planning and health management in Pakistan.’ In 2004 the President of Pakistan conferred upon him the ‘Sitara-i-Imtiaz’.

His major contributions have been in the academic field, and he served as Director of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in 1996 and Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine (1990-1999), culminating 40 years of service to humanity. Although his specialty is endocrinology, he is one of the few qualified hospital administrators in the country, with certification from the International Hospital Federation after training at the Hospital Centre in London. His certifications extend to Health Planning (Johns Hopkins, US), Quantitative Methods in Health Practice Research (Johns Hopkins, US), and Solutions to Population Problems (University of Colorado School of Medicine, US).

In addition to being President and Emeritus Professor CPSP, Dr Farooqui’s current assignments include being the Director General of WHO Collaborating Centre, where he is also an honorary professor for Research and Training in Educational Development of Health Personnel, a critical area for extending the outreach of medical services. He is chief editor of the prestigious CPSP Journal, president of the Pakistan Diabetes Federation, and member Board of Trustees of the Aga Khan University. He is also Professor Emeritus at his alma mater, Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Jamshoro. It is quite obviously a very busy retirement that Dr Farooqui leads.

The CPSP is administratively and financially independent, with 85 per cent of its budget coming from examination fees. “This has now come down to 41 per cent, with extensive short-term training programmes accounting for the balance revenue. These programmes are conducted all over Pakistan, and are compulsory for all doctors wanting to advance their careers.” It has 13 regional offices, and campuses at Multan, Lahore, Faisalabad, Islamabad and Peshawar, in addition to the crown jewel in Karachi. “Another one is coming up in Hyderabad at a cost of Rs40 million, and there are centres in Larkana and Nawabshah as well.”

Dr Farooqui was born in the Patiala State of India, and migrated to Pakistan with his family in 1947, settling down in Sukkur. His father, Hamid Hussain Farooqui, was a gifted lawyer who got elected to the Sindh parliament and served as the minister for industries. One of four brothers and three sisters, Dr Farooqui graduated from Liaquat Medical College in 1962, joined JPMC, and remained there until his retirement seven years ago. His election onto the CPSP Council came about in 1980, and he has been elected to the Council ever since. “At the JPMC I was instrumental in developing the care centre for diabetics and those suffering from gastrointestinal diseases. I also established the best laboratory there which took on the major load of the hospital, had credibility and was free of cost.”

On the effect of politicisation on the quality of work of medical campuses Dr Farooqui says, “Politicisation in any institution will always result in compromising the discipline of that body with consequent negative fallout. There is no hiding the fact that this situation has affected the smooth running of medical colleges in the country. It is a bad situation. How can we stop it? The majority of the students is serious about their studies, and are there with a noble purpose in mind, with a few at the fringe causing the problem.

“The cream of the younger generation have medicine as their first choice. They are the top performers of our academic system. The solution to the problem has come from a surprising quarter. The number of girls attending medical school has risen dramatically, and now comprises 70 per cent of the enrolment. This has helped mellow the environment and make it conducive to serious learning.”

Unfortunately there is a downside to having a predominantly female medical student fraternity, says Dr Farooqui. “The dropout rate has increased because our girls tend to get married midstream and their priorities change. Also, female doctors are not willing to attend to emergencies, or work in unsafe areas. Hence doctors are sometimes not available where they are needed.”

Now, due to economic pressures, both husband and wife have to work, and the prospects for better access to doctors have improved, he says. The nobility of the profession takes a bit of hit when there is inadequate sustenance. There is, however, more social mobility in the medical profession today. “Until the 1980s, only students belonging to well-off families could go abroad for specialisation. Today, the son of a poor man from the rural areas can become a specialist if he is hard working and intelligent. This is a major change that has come about in society.”

Anywhere in the world, if doctors operate in hardship areas they are given incentives by society to cater to their minimum needs, say Dr Farooqui.

“A doctor needs a dispensary, some basic equipment, and the availability of medicines that are needed. If these are not available then there is no point in the doctor being there.” A doctor’s presence raises hopes and expectations, and if he or she is not able to deliver results because of these constraints then there is great disappointment and social unrest. There is general deterioration in society, and not just in the health department. The presence of an alarming number of ghost schools, dispensaries, basic and rural health units, and other such ghastly lapses on the part of those charged with administering civil society, are all symptomatic of a low trust culture that is undermining the viable functioning of society.

The other issue tormenting the public’s mind is the inefficient and entirely inadequate levels of functioning of the few healthcare facilities that we do possess. “I am a professor of medicine and an academician, and overnight I was told to become the deputy director of the JPMC. Luckily I had the training for it. Doctors here are not trained to be administrators, and this is a huge gap in the MBBS curriculum. It does not teach the art of researching, nor health administration.”

Two years ago the CPSP admitted a batch of 16 students, and put them through an intensive one-year training programme in administration from a health perspective. Today we are running the fourth batch. A beginning has been made, but it will take time before their numbers can achieve critical mass.”

Right from the beginning Dr Farooqui was a position holder in virtually all the exams that he sat. While his unwavering focus remained on his curricular pursuits, it did not inhibit him from participating in the entire range of co-curricular activities available to students. “I was a member of the dramatic society, and while never a medal winner I participated in every sport without hesitation. All the facilities that we could possibly require were available to us as medical students. There were just 50 students to a class, as opposed to the 400 today, and there existed an admirable teacher-student relationship in which every faculty member knew each one of us by name. By the time we got into the final year there were just 20 of us left to graduate. Merit and hard work were the sole criteria for success, and the students had extraordinary respect for their teachers that was well earned by them.”

Dr Muhammad Sultan Farooqui is married to Dr Shabnam Farooqui, a professor of Nephology, and presently principal of Sir Syed Girls College in Karachi. They have three sons, and while Ali Amir and Ali Imran are MBAs with corporate careers, Ali Omar has followed in his parents’ footsteps, and is a doctor studying Radiology at Cornell in New York.

Dr Farooqui cites Lt. Gen. Wajid Ali Burke as his role model, and says that he was a great man with no vested interests at all. His message to the readership is to avoid a sedentary lifestyle. “Tension, lack of exercise, and an unbalanced diet have contributed to a high prevalence of diabetes mellitus in society, with an estimated 10 to 12 per cent of the Pakistani population afflicted by it, and the majority of the population over 40 years of age suffering from high blood pressure. There is a need for constant vigilance, and a balanced diet that ensures the intake of proteins and minerals through normal food, and not medication.” In short, be sensible about life, and stay off the hurry, worry and curry!

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