KARACHI, Dec 19 Some 680 candidates who have been successful in the 2008 examination of the College of Physician and Surgeon Pakistan (CPSP) were admitted to college qualification in the 43rd convocation held here.

Of the 680 candidates, 423 were admitted to fellowship and 257 to membership of the CPSP.

Speaking at the convocation, health professional underlined the need for more doctors to combat the growing diseases burden in the country.

They also underscored the need for training more specialists in the medical profession.

The former principal of the King Edwards Medical College, Prof M. Akhtar Khan, was the chief guest.

Prof Khan praised the role of the CPSP in producing professionals and specialists in the country.

Earlier, in his welcome address President of the CPSP Prof Zafar Ullah Chaudhry informed the participants of the event that the college now has 139 accredited training institutes within the country and 96 of them overseas and a vast network of training comprising 2,069 supervisors and more than 12,000 trainees from across the country and abroad.

“It certainly is not easy to resist the temptation of securing funds from the government, which usually are anchored with some sort of compromise on the policies and autonomy of an institution. As a result the CPSP has not only emerged as a prestigious academic institution, but also one of the very few robust, organised, self-reliant and self-sustaining institutions of the country,” he added.

He said training and examinations of the CPSP are compatible and comparable with those used by Royal Colleges of UK and other centres of excellence of the world and it gives the CPSP an edge over all other countries in the region as no other developing or Muslim country has an institution using such rigorous frameworks.

He said that the college offers fellowships in 53 disciplines covering almost all clinical and basic medical science disciplines.

The membership offered by the college is only in 18 disciplines with the aim to prepare specialists who can serve in primary and secondary health care facilities located in rural and remote areas.

He said that the CPSP has reached an agreement with the King Fahad Medical City, Saudi Arabia, according to which 23 Pakistani doctors to be trained there.

The total number of specialists produced by the college is 18,294 including 10,970 fellows, 7,206 members and 118 diploma holders. “As I speak, 12,290 candidates are in different phases of training in the country. CPSP has also made great efforts in exploring possibilities of finding and expanding training slots both within the country and abroad.”

Prof S.M. Rab, a founding fellow and the leading physician of the country, was also present at the convocation.

Dr Nafisa Saddrudin, Dr Javeria Aijaz, Dr Uzma Nadeem, Dr Suhail Siddiqui and Dr Zarin Kiran were awarded gold medals for their excellent performance.—PPI