LAHORE: The Punjab government has plans to set up two new medical universities in upper and south Punjab, apparently abandoning the existing model of upgrading colleges to varsities.

The provincial health department on Monday held a brainstorming session, planning that the universities would be established in Rawalpindi and Multan, with Rawalpindi Medical College and Nishtar Medical College, respectively, their constituent colleges.

The meeting presided over by health minister Khawaja Salman Rafique was attended by specialised healthcare and medical education Secretary Najam Shah, King Edward Medical University Vice-chancellor Prof Faisal Masood, University of Health Sciences PVC Prof Junaid Sarfraz Khan, RMC Principal Prof Muhammad Umar, NMC Principal Prof Kamran Saliq, Fatima Jinnah Medical University Registrar Prof Muhammad Awais and others.

The specialised healthcare and medical education department has identified that the world over universities are being established to access the resources and knowledge being created around the globe.

While the department identified that the existing medical education institutions were more into clinical side and inculcating technical skills among graduates, sources in the meeting said it was consensus among the participants that the education, research and creation of knowledge was almost non-existent in the local seats of higher learning.

After discussing these issues, the meeting decided to plan training of medical teachers in terms of writing research papers and making citations for international research journals.

Identifying benefits of creation of varsities, the meeting acknowledged the available access to resources, including libraries; physical and online and additional budgets from the funding agencies, including the Higher Education Commission.

The meeting was told the health department had already launched efforts for a uniform medical education curriculum at postgraduate level.

Underlining the shortage of professors in different specialities, the sources said the meeting was told that the department had mapped the strength of faculty in medical education institutions and plans were afoot to create more seats where needed.

The department officials told the meeting that the mapping of human resource revealed that many approved faculty posts were never filled, while recruitment was made in already over-staffed disciplines.

The sources said the meeting stressed the need for developing common standards as the number of universities was expected to increase in the province. All medical varsities would also be required to share knowledge, they added.

Meanwhile, the department upgraded six nursing schools to colleges.

The sources said the existing medical colleges would be made constituents of the new varsities, while allied health sciences schools would also be attached with the varsities.

They said the meeting also planned that the facilities and services in teaching hospitals, including hygiene, nursing, supply chain of medicines etc, would be organised. The teaching hospitals’ relationship with the medical varsities’ vice-chancellors and syndicates would also be planned in the days to come, they added.

With regard to the vacant posts of faculty and medical officers in hospitals, Mr Shah has already directed that these slots be immediately filled through walk-in interviews of candidates, besides issuing advertisements in newspapers.

The secretary has also hinted that some 400 seats of teachers/supervisors would be created for the medical colleges.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2016