LAHORE, June 10: Taking note of the expulsion of 23 students of Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, Governor Salman Taseer directed the Health secretary to probe the matter and submit a report to him within 24 hours.
The academic council of the PMC had expelled 15 female and eight male students, all belonging to Ahmadi sect, on the charges of ‘preaching their faith’.
Seven of these students were studying in third prof, six in second, five in first and one in the final.
MSc Physiotherapy: The University of Health Sciences (UHS) is starting for the first time in the country MSc Physiotherapy programme at the Children’s Hospital and Institute of Child Health Lahore.
UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Malik Hussain Mubbashar said this at a prize distribution ceremony at the Institute of Child Health here on Tuesday. It was organised by the Learning Centre of the Developmental Paediatrics Department of the hospital to reward the special children who had been rehabilitated by the centre during the last two years.
Prof Hussain said nurses and allied health professionals were as important as doctors and dentists for improving the standards of healthcare delivery. He said the country was suffering from an acute shortage of allied health scientists and their functions were being performed by skilled but non-qualified paramedics.
He said the UHS was committed to the uplift of education in allied health sciences and other neglected disciplines since its inception. The university had established its own Institute of Allied Health Sciences and started MSc programme in Medical Laboratory Technology. He emphasised the need for change in society’s attitude towards special children.
He said while measuring the burden of any disease, the stigma associated with it, its emotional burden and social consequences must also be taken into account.
He advised doctors and scientists that western model must not be followed blindly and a lot of research should be carried out to devise innovative methods of treatment and rehabilitation of patients.
Children’s Hospital and Institute of Child Health Lahore Dean Prof Tahir Masood said some 25 per cent population of the country was disabled and 50 per cent of them were children. He said disable children needed special care but the institutions and hospitals lacked facilities to cater to their needs.
Developmental Paeds department head Dr Shazia Maqbool said Children’s Hospital was first in the public sector which was offering learning programme, psychological care, speech therapy, occupational therapy, sensory therapy and developmental therapy for such children. She said the department was responsible for educational rehabilitation of mild to moderately delayed children.
MoU: The UHS and the University of Nottingham (UK), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday.
A spokesman said the agreement envisaged the development of links in the areas of learning and teaching, exchange of students, faculty members and documentation and research material was also a part of the agreement.
The Nottingham University assured provision of 25 per cent tuition fee scholarships to 12 PhD students.