PESHAWAR: The Postgraduate Medical Institute is set to start induction of trainee medical officers in line with Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act, 2015 after completion of the process of appointments of associate deans in all medical teaching institutions.

Khyber Medical College appointed Prof Irshad Ahmad and Prof Mushtaq Ahmad Marwat associate deans for postgraduate and undergraduate respectively on Tuesday. Delay in appointment of associate deans was caused by lengthy litigation over the enforcement of the new law.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government enforced MTIRA in January 2015 to improve patients’ care and state of medical education and training of health professionals.

Delay in appointment of associate deans caused by litigation

Under the law, Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI) was also devolved to the hospitals and colleges covered by MTIRA. Prior to it, PGMI inducted trainee medical officers (TMOs) for all the hospitals in the province. Now the post of dean at PGMI has been demolished.

PGMI will continue to induct TMOs centrally but on the advice of associate deans in the medical teaching institutions.

A meeting of the executive council of PGMI will take place on Wednesday wherein all associate deans will participate to discuss selection of TMOs.

Formerly, PGMI would induct TMOs for all the hospitals. It would send the TMOs for postgraduate training to different wards which often created problems because the selection wasn’t according to the requirements and available space.

The TMOs were selected by PGMI at central level without taking into account the needs of the hospitals concerned. Stipend to TMOs was released by PGMI.

The new law has devolved PGMI to medical teaching institutions with all having dean and associate dean to look after the affairs of the medical students and TMOs.

The medical teaching institutions will have total financial and administrative control over the TMOs.

The province inducts about 2,000 TMOs in January and July. They are deployed at the different hospitals. Now each MTI has its associate deans for representation in PGMI as they would be deciding about the number of TMOs they need.

Each associate dean will present the number of TMOs slot in the respective institution that will ensure selection on merit. The new arrangement aims to improve medical education of the students and postgraduate training.

Previously, principal of the medical college was required to take care of the syllabus, courses and examination of the students but he or she remained too busy to find time and medical education suffered subsequently.

Now, the associate and research deans, who work under dean, will take care of the students’ affairs. Dean is the new nomenclature for principal.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2017