PESHAWAR: The government has notified the Board of Governors for Nowshera Medical College (NMC) as part of its programme to extend Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act, 2015 to nine hospitals in the province.

The health department through a notification announced seven private members of Board of Governors who would run the institution.

“We have selected the high calibre members through a search committee, so they could find more time to improve working of the medical college and the hospital,” said Health Secretray Jamal Yousaf.

The search committee, comprising officials of district administration and health department and elected representatives picked up retired Col Saeed Qamar (psychiatrist), Prof Falak Naz (gynaecologist), Zafeerullah Khan, Shakil Khan, Arif Khattak, Rauf Khattak and Jamshed Khan through their consent to be included in the Board of Governors.

The notification is part of govt’s plan to extend new health law to nine hospitals

They will select a chairman from themselves. Three of the members will come from government departments, including finance, health and general administration.

The government has started implementation of the new law from the four teaching hospitals -- three in Peshawar and one in Abbottabad. It has now accelerated the process after a lull of one year. Search for persons to be taken in BoG was in progress, sources said.

Sources said the NMC’s BoG faced daunting task because the college was yet to be established and more than 100 students were waiting for start of classes.

The students suffered owing to problems in Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, which didn’t visit the college to give recognition to it, they added.

However, the college, started one year later than Gaju Khan Medical College Swabi, had got the required infrastructure to be given status of a medical college, sources said.

Prof Mohammad Tahir, the college’s project director, told Dawn that PMDC was most likely to accord recognition to the college in April after the newly-elected executive body carried out inspections. “We have requested the federal health minister and secretary in a meeting on January 7 to open the college for classes because the students, who have been selected on merit, will benefit from one academic year,” he added.

Prof Tahir said that NMC had been awarded affiliation by Khyber Medical University after carrying out its inspection and the council would do the same because they had fulfilled the entire criteria to start classes.

According to prospectus issued for the entrance test for public sector medical college, the students were selected for admission subject to recognition of NMC.

“We have conveyed to the council that we need permission to start classes. We wouldn’t observe summer vocation to catch with students of other medical college,” said Prof Tahir. The establishment of BoG would further strengthen their plea for early classes as the most experienced members would resolve the problem, he said.

“Last week, we also launched construction of purpose-built building near the new district headquarters hospital. The building will cost Rs1.30 billion wherein latest equipments would be made available. The NMC is located in the new district headquarters hospital building,” said Prof Tahir.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2016