RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Post has released a commemorative stamp honouring the Golden Jubilee of Rawalpindi Medical College and highlighting its pivotal role in shaping the healthcare landscape of Rawalpindi district.

Rawalpindi Medical College, which was upgraded to Rawalpindi Medical University six years ago, was awarded the stamp to celebrate the college’s remarkable journey of five decades.

Rawalpindi Medical University Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Muhammad Umar told Dawn that the institute has focused on patient care initiatives, including the establishment of various departments including twelve new specialities and improving affiliated hospitals’ standards.

Some worthy patient care projects are the state-of-the-art centre for liver and digestive diseases (CLD), the Multi Organ Failure Centre (MOF), the Medical ICU, the Department of Infectious Diseases (DID), the Department of Emergency and Critical Care (DEC), and the upgradation of the affiliated hospitals.

Moreover, over 8600 students have graduated and are serving nationally and internationally.

Rawalpindi Medical College was established in Faisalabad in 1973 and later shifted to Rawalpindi in an incomplete building at Tipu Road (Science Block of Gordon College Rawalpindi). The building was later entirely given to the college.

The academic programmes of the college are accredited by UHS, CPSP, and PMDC. The college got full recognition by the General Medical Council UK, American specialty boards, internship programmes with different universities abroad, and WHO. Holy Family Hospital,Benazir Bhutto Hospital, and District Headquarters Hospital are three teaching hospitals affiliated with the Rawalpindi Medical University.

The founder and principal of RMC, Prof. Abdul Latif, worked hard to establish the institution. He managed to acquire the Holy Family Hospital from the missionary church and the Central Government Hospital from the central government, which later became Rawalpindi General Hospital and now Benazir Bhutto Hospital. The district headquarters hospital was also affiliated with the college as the first teaching hospital.

Prof. Mohammad Nawaz, the second principal, and Prof. Mohammad Iqbal, as professor of surgery and later principal, played pivotal roles as pioneer teams to establish all components of RMC. Prof. Iqbal and Prof. Saad Rana worked hard to establish the new teaching block in Holy Family Hospital with the help of the Islamic Development Bank.

The legacy was taken forward by respective forthcoming principals; a worthy mention is Prof. Mubashir Malik, who established the department of psychiatry and worked hard to develop its international collaborations. The Department of Medical Education and the Institute of Allied Health Sciences established in 2007 were the vision of Prof. Musadiq Khan; he also started the new teaching block at Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi.

RMU Vice Chancellor Prof. Mohammad Umar is the first principal and Vice Chancellor who also got a degree from Rawalpindi Medical College. After taking over the office in 2013, and started working on a multi-dimensional approach to further develop the institution. He restructured the undergraduate training programme by establishing a purpose-built Department of Medical Education (DME) and upgrading student libraries, cafeterias, student sections, and hostels.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2023