KARACHI: Over 2,000 students received their degrees at the 13th convocation of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) held on Thursday at the Ojha campus cricket stadium.

The recipients included over 300 MBBS students, 22 MPhil and three PhD students.

Fifty gold medals, 48 silver and as many bronze medals were also given to the outstanding graduates from various institutes and colleges affiliated with DUHS.

Out of the 2,192 successful candidates, 321 were of medical graduates of the Dow Medical College; 143 were of Dow International Medical College; one graduate of Sindh Medical College; 47 graduates of Dow Dental College; 52 Dow International Dental College; 104 graduates of Dr Ishrat Ul Ebad Institute of Oral Health Sciences and 137 graduates of Pharm-D.

Ninety-five students received degrees in the discipline of physical therapy, 29 students in occupational therapy and over 600 students in nursing.

Degrees were also awarded in the fields of radiology, nutrition, biotechnology, public health, dental sciences and echocardiography.

During the convocation, the Best Graduate Award named after late Prof Muhammad Shafiq Quraishy, a former DMC professor, was presented to Zeenat Hadi, Saim Sohail, Nirma Tasleem, Rihaaf Abdul Qayyum Bil Wani, Subhash Kumar, Fizza Wahiba Salam, Aqsa Anwar, Noureen Khurshid, Sitwat Asif, Komal Ali, Syeda Zainab Tanweer, Rimsha Imran, Tabassum Muhammad Khalid, Naval Shabbir, Tooba Yousuf, Safina Karimuddin, Sara Javeed Ahmed and Ahmad Zaman.

Congratulating the students, DUHS Vice Chancellor Prof Muhammad Saeed Quraishy highlighted the significance of dedication and perseverance in the pursuit of knowledge, urging students to serve humanity with dedication.

He also spoke about the university’s progress and said that the medical institution was now among the top 600 universities worldwide, attributing this feat to the collective efforts of the staff.

The university, he noted, was giving prime importance to research and improvement in patient services and had taken several initiatives to provide state-of-the art treatment and to motivate students to take up innovative research projects.

These steps, he said, included the establishment of a genomic centre, a crucial milestone achieved in collaboration with the federal government.

“The other is the Dow Cancer Center opened last year in April, providing comprehensive treatment for various types of cancer,” he pointed out.

Prof Saba Sohail, chairperson of the convocation committee and DMC Principal, encouraged the graduates to take pride in their academic accomplishments, considering the past years spent on education as crucial in preparing them for future challenges.

DUHS Registrar Dr Ashar Afaq took oath of commitment to humanity’s unbiased service from the MBBS graduates.

The attendees at the ceremony included Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Nazli Hossain, Principal of International Medical College Professor Zeba Haq and DUHS controller examination Dr Fuad Sheikh.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2023