The University of Health Sciences was home on Friday to the first prize distribution ceremony of the 'Project Professionalism Punjab', with former King Edward Medical College principal Professor Mehmood Ali Malik and Karachi cardiologist Professor Dr Maqbool H. Jafri doling out cash prizes to winners.
The university has launched the prize project to foster medical professionalism identity in medical students and health professionals. 'Project Professionalism Punjab' is based on the idea of narrative writing to enhance self-reflection and empathy, which opens the door for deeper understanding of patients' and health professionals' experiences of illness. It also promotes good practice and ethics in medicine.
In this project, every month one caricature sequence, one photograph and one video are uploaded on the university's website (www.uhs.edu.pk). Medical students, residents and faculty are invited to write a short story on the basis of the uploaded content, reflecting their own personal similar experiences and commenting on the best practices in healthcare delivery across the globe and how they evolved. These stories are then evaluated at the end of the month and the best story is awarded a cash prize. The top three stories are published on the site.
For January 2015, the prize for the best story on caricature sequence was won by Amna Riaz of Avicenna Medical College, Lahore, for picture story by Dr Sara Khalid Khan, and the prize for best story based on a video clip was given to Ammara Aftab of Avicenna Medical College, Lahore. They were given cash prize of Rs 5000 each.
In his speech, Malik said the core of professionalism comprised those attributes and behaviours that served to maintain patient interests above physician self-interest. Professionalism, however, extended beyond interactions with patients, he added. Professionalism also involved the relationships between physicians and other health professionals. It should pervade all of activities in medicine, the veteran physician maintained.
Professor Jafri said professionalism embodied the relationship between medicine and society as it formed the basis of patient-physician trust and that medicine was a moral endeavour which demanded integrity, competence, and high ethical standards among other key attributes.
University Vice Chancellor Professor Muhammad Aslam said the university would keep on promoting positive activities among its students. Project in-charge and Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Junaid S. Khan, said the basic objective was to examine and understand the development of concepts of professionalism across the learner's lifespan of students, trainees and faculty.
He said, "We also want to understand the influence of environment, society, culture, education, parenting, in essence the social fabric, on the development of the medical professional identity. There is a hidden wealth in reflective writing through narratives, which have promising potential for application in medical education. He urged medical students and faculty to take part in the activity." Hundreds of medical student, senior faculty members and principals of affiliated colleges were among the guests attending the event.
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