For the first time in Pakistan, as many as 12 doctors completed the beginner level of Pediatric Emergency Medicine Certificate (PEMC) on Tuesday at ChildLife Foundation. The certificate course is first of its kind in the country which was conducted by Dr Irfan Habib, head of clinical affairs and Dr Huba Atique, Course Director and in-Charge of Telemedicine at ChildLife Foundation.
The PEM certificate is a comprehensive education program for medical practitioners for the care of sick and injured children, addressing a full spectrum of emergency illnesses, injuries and scenarios that they could possibly encounter.
The course was designed for doctors and medical providers with mid-levels of training. The PEMC is an in-house course where these doctors are given extensive training for 6 months to make their practices uniform.
This program is certified by the prestigious Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS). The first PEMC program commenced in August 2016, training 12 healthcare practitioners whereas the second batch is expected to begin from February this year, and during this period the first batch will undergo extensive on ground training.
The International mentor for the course is Dr Nadeem Qureshi, Associate Professor of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at St Louis University USA, while locally the course is assisted by Dr Fehmina Arif, Head of Pediatric Department at Civil Hospital Karachi and Dr Khadija Nuzhat, Head of Pediatrics at AKUH.
Dr Naseeruddin Mahmood, Trustee Childlife Foundation, while addressing the certificate distribution ceremony at DUHS stated that we need human resources to run this initiative and this certification. "The doctors who have completed the course will be challenged to achieve their full potential in an academically stimulating environment. With this the PEMC strives to training physicians to be future leaders in the field of paediatric emergency medicine," said Mahmood.
It is worth adding here that ChildLife Foundation (CLF) is already working in paediatric emergency care services in Pakistan at NICH, Civil hospital, Korangi-5 hospital while negotiations are underway with expected new sites.
"Unfortunately, paediatric emergency medicines are not an established field in medical. So, a diploma and graduate level course will be introduced in the country soon and these certified doctors will play their role as first trained experts in the field," he added.
He said that Pediatric Emergency Medicine will evolve in the country with the passage of time. "There are chances that within a year, a graduation level course will be established in the country," said Trustee CLF.
He said that public private partnership (PPP) is enhancing the role of Non-profit organisations (NPOs) as an alternate career path for doctors as there are so many opportunities for doctors in the field of paediatric emergency medicines.