The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has established first-ever postgraduate institutes of nursing and allied health sciences in Punjab, which will be formally inaugurated next month.
Two separate blocks have been constructed at the university campus for these institutes over an area of about 20,000 square feet with an estimated cost of Rs 21.3 million. The building of each institute consists of lecture halls, laboratories, skill and computer labs, library, conference room and offices, a spokesman of UHS said here on Saturday.
He said the UHS has already launched various courses in nursing and allied health sciences. The four-year BSc and two-year Post RN BSc nursing programmes are being offered at three of UHS affiliated institutes. UHS Postgraduate Institute of Nursing will offer one-year postgraduate diploma, two years MSc and five years MPhil leading to PhD courses in nursing. The University will arrange clinical training of its students in the attached hospitals of its affiliated institutions such as Jinnah Hospital, Services Hospital, Punjab Institute of Cardiology and Lahore General Hospital, Lahore. UHS has hired the services of foreign faculty for its Institute of Nursing. The faculty members include Dr Li Xiaomei, Dr Gao Rui and Dr Li Ning from Xi'an Jiatong University, China, the spokesman said.
The UHS Vice-chancellor Professor Malik Hussain Mubbashar said that by establishing Institute of Nursing, UHS would bridge the daunting gap between neglected nursing education and other medical and allied health sciences. The institute would serve as intellectual nexus of nursing education and would also facilitate the launching of higher courses in nursing in affiliated institutions, he said. "The institute will provide qualified nurses leading to improved patient care in the hospitals, better qualified nursing faculty to impart teaching", he added.
He said the UHS Institute of Allied Health Sciences has already started master degree programmes in medical lab technology and biomedical engineering. In next phase, the institute will offer MSc courses in physiotherapy and medical imaging technology.
The institute will facilitate the launching of 16 new BSc courses in allied health sciences at 17 UHS affiliated colleges and institutions from September 2007. These courses include optometry, emergency and intensive care, dental technology, medical lab technology, medical imaging, physiotherapy, cardiac perfusion, biomedical engineering, speech and language therapy, respiratory therapy, occupation therapy, dental hygiene, nutrition, audiology, operation theatre assistance and ophthalmic medicine.