LAHORE, March 21: Health services in developing countries like Pakistan are suffering because of little effort to benefit from continuing medical education (CME) based on solid scientific evidence. This was stated by University of Health Sciences vice-chancellor Prof Malik Husain Mubbashar while speaking at the inaugural session of a one-day symposium on “Updates in Medicine” at Fatima Memorial Hospital’s Centre for Health Research on Tuesday.
The VC stressed the importance of indigenous research to develop a better healthcare system. He said research on tuberculosis and tropical infections was being done in the universities of Europe and America. At time, he said, such vaccines might not be effective in Pakistani environment, as local viruses and bacteria might be genetically different and hence non-responsive.
Regardless of the common misconception, Prof Mubbashar said research was not very expensive and could be done on some of the very basic issues such as studying the patterns of illnesses and response to drugs. He said that lack of research environment, facilities, incentives and ability to write scientifically were some of the other factors responsible for a low research output in Pakistan.
He said CME was relatively new concept in the country and UHS was making efforts to introduce, implement and evaluate this concept in the existing system to improve quality of medical education.
Prof Mubbashar said the UHS was negotiating with General Medical Council’s authorities to allow exemption to the former’s graduates from taking licensing examinations like PLAB for registration in the United Kingdom. He hoped that this issue would soon be finalized.
The VC lauded the role of private sector in medical education and assured full support to FMH College of Medicine in its academic programmes.
FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry’s (FMHCMD) chief of academic advancement and health research Dr Tasleem Akhtar said the institution was fully aware of in-service training and continuing medical education. Others speakers in the first scientific session on CME stressed the need to develop a better healthcare system to promote research relevant to problems in the field, to strengthen the human and material resources for research and to create a mechanism which could help Pakistan meet its own research needs. They also said that the development of appropriate technologies and training of personnel in various fields of medicine and public health and research were essential components of such a mechanism.
The speakers were: American College of Physicians’ professor emeritus Dr Sara E Walker, Aga Khan University’s department of community health sciences chairman Prof Gregory Pappas, FMHCMD principal Prof Humayun Maqsood.
Later, presentations were made on valvular heart diseases in pregnancy, systematic lupus erythematosis, hepatitis-C, diabetes, management of epilepsy, diabetic nephropathy, nosocomial infections, rational use of painkillers, family medicine in Pakistan and management of refractory hypertension.
Two workshops were also held on “updates in cardiopulmonary resuscitation” and “Skin signs of systemic diseases”.