KARACHI, May 18: Sindh Health Minister Ahsan Ahmad has emphasized the importance of research in medical education saying that this aspect cannot be overlooked and could only be promoted if research habits are inculcated in students.

These remarks were made by the health minister at a workshop organized at the Sindh Medical College by SMCAANA, the alumni of SMC graduates based in North America.

The workshop was on Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Basic Life Support.

The Minister said that SMCAANA had conducted their first workshop in Islamabad and undertaken the responsibility of organizing it on a regular basis, preferably at their Alma Mater.

The minister said that hands-on practice on electronic manikin and rhythm simulator was indeed an innovative approach towards learning for providing first aid to any cardiac patient. He said the workshop would prove beneficial to the participants.

With the passage of time, he said, the trainers should broaden the scope of this learning process to paramedics, nurses, health assistants and allied health workers, as losing a single minute in cardiac arrest amounted to 10 per cent loss of survival.

He suggested that the two principals of Dow and Sindh Medical Colleges should coordinate the efforts in both the colleges whenever the alumni of their two colleges visited.

SMC principal Prof Akbar Haider Soomro in his address said that holding of the workshop would have far-reaching consequences in the health sector.

“The aim of holding the workshop is to establish management of cardiac arrest and a team approach in management of cardiac arrest, besides preparing master trainers for training local physicians of Sindh. The workshop includes didactic lectures, followed by hands-on practice on electronic manikins, rhythm simulators and airway, breathing, circulation, drug concepts,” he added.

Prof Soomro said: “Apart from workshops and seminars, we have established a cell with the collaboration of PMRC centre; our students are given topics by the teachers to work on, and in a short period of one year our students prepared 15 research- oriented documents which are being kept in the library.”

“They will be presented in a national conference on forensic medicines to be held on May 28 and we expect more presentation in future,” he said.—Agencies