KARACHI: The Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) conferred degrees on over 2,500 students in different disciplines of medical sciences in its 14th convocation on Thursday.

Speaking at the convocation ceremony held the university’s Ojha campus, Governor Sindh and Chancellor DUHS Muhammad Kamran Khan Tessori, who was also the chief guest, congratulated the graduates on their success, while making a strong appeal to parents, especially mothers, to give their girls an equal right to pursue their dreams.

“Girls pursuing medical education should not keep their degrees in a showcase but put them to use. There is no other way for us to keep pace with the rapidly progressing world unless our women are allowed to perform their professional duties alongside family life,” he said.

Highlighting national challenges, the governor asked students to think and plan how they could help the country grow. “I understand making a name with pure honesty in this country isn’t easy. But, I have complete faith that hard work finally pays off and passion eventually finds success,” he told the audience while giving Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem’s example.

“His dedication allowed him to surpass those who practiced in the best gyms. The best doctors in America are Pakistanis. It’s Pakistan that helped the UAE launch the Emirates Airline, which decided to keep the letters ‘EK’ (E representing Emirates and K denoting Karachi) to pay tribute to our country,” he said, adding that success would follow regardless of resources if one is determined.

Later, Vice Chancellor DUHS Prof Muhammad Saeed Quraishy in his address spoke about how artificial intelligence was shaping the world, included the field of medical sciences.

“The future is about precision medicine dependent upon molecular investigations. The textbooks of today will have to be rewritten with this emerging advancement. Dow University is starting three new programmes this year: molecular medicine, forensic science and cardiovascular technology,” he said.

Earlier in the convocation, degrees were awarded to 2,523 students, including four PhD students. University registrar D Ashar Afaq took oath of commitment from the MBBS graduates.

The successful candidates included 327 graduates of Dow Medical College, 137 graduates of Dow International Medical College, 47 graduates of Dow Dental College, 53 graduates of Dow International Dental College and 101 graduates of Dr Ishrat Ul Ebad Institute of Oral Health Sciences.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2024