PESHAWAR, Sept 6: The provincial health department has planned not to hire the services of basic medical science teachers for Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical College from the existing eight government medical colleges.

The plan will help the existing colleges continue with educational activities unaffected, according to officials.

Officials have told Dawn that the government will make sure that the existing medical colleges aren’t affected by the ZABMC hiring of basic medical science teachers.

They said there was a great shortage of basic medical science teachers in the province and those working in medical colleges would apply for new positions on the basis of their experiences.

“In all such cases, the department will seek recommendations from the respective medical colleges so that they don’t suffer,” an official said.

Officials said the launch of ZABMC on October 28 required one professor, one associate and one assistant professor in each of physiology, biochemistry and anatomy departments, the three subjects to be started immediately for the first batch of students.They said basic medical science teachers working in government medical colleges in Bannu, DI Khan, and Saidu Sharif were likely to apply for posting to Peshawar.

“Many will be eligible to apply for the nine posts to be advertised soon but extra care will be taken so that educational standard of the existing colleges remains unaffected,” an official said.

He said basic medical science teachers in government colleges would be posted to the college only if their principal, dean and head of the departments recommended their names.

According to officials, the government has been paying allowances to these teachers since 1998 but no serious effort has been made to make plans for producing trained lot and solve the problem.

They said recruitment of basic medical science teachers was one of the basic re Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) requirements for setting up new colleges. They added that health department might face challenges in finding persons for senior positions but wouldn’t employ people at the cost of other institutions.

They said professors, associate and assistants in BMS departments received Rs50,000, Rs30,000 and Rs20,000 monthly allowances respectively but no serious effort was made to cope with the shortage of basic medical sciences teachers.

According to them, the health department had planned to produce trained persons to cater to the future demand of the province and that Khyber Medical University had started to training doctors in line with the future’s needs of medical education, they said.

They said the province had 100 basic medical science teachers.

“The new college will enroll 100 students in first year. Against the previous plans of offering 10 per cent free merit-based admissions, the health department will charge all students,” an official said.

Officials said Lady Reading Hospital would serve as its teaching health facility and its teachers would automatically become its employees from the day of its inauguration.