PESHAWAR, Aug 27: The University of Peshawar has granted affiliation to the Postgraduate Paramedical Institute of the Lady Reading Hospital for award of BSc Honours degrees, officials said.

Classes for the four-year BSc programme will commence at the institution from next month.

Officials said that about 100 students had been selected for the first batch. Topics from 13 medical disciplines had been included in the programme of studies.

They said 40 per cent of the students had been selected on the basis of their FSc (pre-medical) marks and the remaining 60 per cent on the basis of the quota for health department employees.

Chief clinical coordinator for the postgraduate programme, Prof Dr Arshad Javaid, told Dawn that the NWFP had taken a lead by launching the course.

He said that 13 clinical coordinators and as many assistant clinical coordinators had been nominated for different disciplines with a view to formulating suggestions regarding the course.

“We got good suggestions during the first meeting. We hope that the course would enhance the capacity of the paramedics and would improve patient care in the province,” he said.

Dr Arshad, who is dean of the Postgraduate Medical Institute, said the affairs of the institute for paramedics would ultimately be handed over to the Khyber Medical University (KMU) which was responsible for medical education in the province.

An official said at present the institute had the services of two permanent doctors who taught fundamental subjects. Other faculty members taught on a daily-wage basis.

He said that they were sending a list of 10 to 15 doctors to the authorities, of which six would be transferred to the institute. “This will solve the problem to a great extent.”

He said the institute’s building was located in the basement of the Lady Reading Hospital and a few classrooms were not sufficient.

He said: “The government has approved a PC-1 and about Rs50 million will be allowed for purchasing land and constructing a building in the Hayatabad Township.”

Officials said that the subject of English had been omitted from the degree course which would land the students in trouble because with the sole exception of Islamiat all the remaining nine subjects were taught in English.

An official associated with medical education in the province said: “We will ask the University of Peshawar to include English because it is important for medical education.” He said that English was the main subject in BSc nursing courses.

To improve the standard of paramedic education and make chances of their promotion bright, a task force was constituted by the provincial government in 1997 which recommended ending a one-year training course and opening colleges for paramedics so that they could get higher education.

The then chief minister Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan inaugurated four colleges, one each in Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Abbottabad and Swat in March 1999. These colleges operate under the Provincial Health Services Academy (PHSA), offering two-year diplomas of four semesters in different branches of medical technologies.

Now about 200 paramedics had obtained diplomas from the colleges, and according to the new service structure they would get promotions to the next grades on the basis of their qualifications.