Although the minister of state for national health services, regulations and co-ordination confessed her government was facing a lot of challenges in connection with the health sector, she claimed it was attempting to restore institutions rather than individuals.
In a speech during the opening on an international moot on "medical education" at the University of Health Sciences on Friday, Minister Saira Afzal Tarar said, "Curriculum is not a static document rather it is a dynamic process. It has to respond to the changing needs of the country. The curriculum for medical colleges should be designed according to the national needs focussing more on primary healthcare. The shift to an integrated, system-based medical curriculum represents an international trend."
In his speech, university Vice-Chancellor Professor Muhammad Aslam said sustained efforts in medical education had a visible impact on healthcare, healthcare delivery and more importantly the matters related to curriculum planning, faculty development, leadership and accreditation. "It is important to adopt effective medical curricula and teaching methodologies where students could gain essential competencies," he added.
Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Junaid Sarfraz Khan then stressed the need of developing a standardised, contextually relevant integrated curriculum. "Recent attempts in implementing integrated curricula in the country have faced a number of challenges, including lack of awareness among stakeholders about the matter and the subject, inability to provide relevant evidence in support for the change and poor or non-existent faculty development initiatives.
The theme of the three-day conference that began on October 29 is "integrated curriculum for an un-integrated practice", and it is being organised in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Punjab Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Medical Research Council and Pakistan Science Foundation.
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