Although, importance of continued medical education (CME) based on solid scientific evidence is now well recognised, yet not widely implemented, and thus reducing the possible impact on health services in developing countries like Pakistan.
Vice-chancellor University of Health Sciences, Lahore Professor Malik Hussain Mubasshar stated this while addressing a symposium on 'Updates in Medicine' at Fatima Memorial Hospital's Centre for Health Research here on Tuesday.
The immediate consequences are stagnation of quality of services delivery and ill health of the population, he added. He emphasised the importance of indigenous research to develop a better healthcare system. He said that it was an irony that research on tuberculosis and tropical infections was being done in the universities of Europe and America. At time, such vaccines might not be effective in our environment as our viruses and bacteria might be genetically different and hence non-responsive, he added.
Regardless of the common misconception, research was not very expensive and could be done on some of the very basic issues such as studying the patterns of illness and response to drugs.
The 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 maintained. He said the UHS is committed to create an intellectual nexus for health research in Pakistan. CME is relatively new concept in the country and UHS is making concerted efforts to introduce, implement and evaluate this concept in our system to improve quality of medical education, he added.
He further said that UHS is negotiating with General Medical Council authorities to give exemption to the former graduates from taking licensing examinations, such as PLAB for registration in the United Kingdom which would be finalised soon.
Professor Sara E. Walker, Professor Emeritus, American College of Physicians, Professor Gregory Pappas, Chairman Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Dr Tasleem Akhtar and Professor Humayun Maqsood also spoke on the occasion.
Meanwhile, presentations were made on heart diseases in pregnancy, systematic lupus erythematosis, hepatitis-C, diabetes, management of epilepsy, diabetic nephropathy, nosocomial infections, rational use of painkillers, family medicines in Pakistan and management of refractory hypertension.
Comments
Comments are closed.