KARACHI, Nov 9: Around 40 international medical experts said on Friday that they believed that despite tough challenges, Pakistan was leveling off with the rest of the world in modern medicine.

“It's a country with a large population and a lot of talent, hence it takes a lot to get to the top. This is why the medical experts in Pakistan are among the cream of healthcare professionals,” Dr Michael Hollands of the Royal Austalasian College of Surgeons told Dawn. He is visiting Pakistan to participate in the scientific sessions being hosted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) as part of their three-day golden jubilee celebrations which begin on Saturday.

Dr Christoph R. Kaufmann, directer of trauma, critical care and emergency surgery at the Forbes Regional Hospital in Pennsylvania, USA, said that it was his third visit to the country and he had found Pakistan to be ably catching up with the rest of the world and in a very short period of time.

Meanwhile, Dr Archie Prentice, president of the Royal College of Pathologists in the UK, said that he had noticed that even though training of doctors in Pakistan met high standards, reaching out to the poor was still a challenge.

Prof Abdul Aziz of the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties said that he was quite impressed by the CPSP graduates. “What I observed in the standard of medical education is around five times better than what I expected,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr P.S. Bakhshi, the secretary of Saarc’s surgical care society in Jalandhar, India, thought that it would do Pakistan and other South Asian countries good to work together because they had the same kind of health problems.

Dr Dason Evans, a senior honourary lecturer in Medical Education at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of London, referred to the remarks of Prof Khawaja Sadiq Hussain when he spoke at the convocation ceremony.

“What the chief guest said about modern doctors forgetting about the importance of the doctor-patient relationship is a major issue which is relevant to the world, not just Pakistan,” he observed.—Staff Reporter