KARACHI, May 5: Over 50 teachers and researchers from different higher education institutions of the country took part in the opening day of a two-day workshop on experimental physiology that got under way on Friday at the Department of Physiology, University of Karachi.

The Vice-Chancellor of KU, Dr Pirzada Qasim, who is considered one of the pioneers of the Physiology Department at KU, was chief guest at the inaugural session.

He stressed the need for more exposure of the teaching and laboratory staffs to physiology experiments carried out at the undergraduate or graduates levels.

Recalling his old days, Dr Pirzada said that when he had founded the department, there were insufficient facilities and expertise, but things had changed now.

He remarked that the KU’s Physiology Department besides faculty members of other universities should also avail the HEC’s funding meant for workshops and trainings.

The organizing secretary of the workshop, Dr Abdul Azeem, who is also chairman of the Physiology Department, said the objective of the workshop was to produce hands-on training and extensive theoretical background on commonly used physiology experiments at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

He said there was a dire need for the faculty itself to update on new technological advancement in the subject, adding that the workshop was a milestone in that direction.

This experimental physiology workshop was the first of its kind organized in the country in the domains selected for the workshop, he added.

He said that physiology experiments had been revolutionized especially with the advent of computer technology, and as such, there was an urgent need for faculty members and research to keep themselves abreast with technological evolution of data recording systems, from kymographs to chart recorders and from polygraphs to computer-based data recordings.

The Regional Director of the HEC, S M Iqbal, highlighted the role of the HEC in funding academic and research activities. He stressed the need for such workshops for training teachers in future as well.

Nauman Aziz, an application scientist, made a comprehensive presentation about the world's latest computerized system laboratory in physiology teaching.

He said that, for teachers and researchers, knowing the related equipment was essential, as it gave confidence in their data and saved time for minor problems.

Prof Shoaib Tauheed, Chairperson of the Physiology Department at the Dow University of Health Sciences, said that experimentation and processing with instruments in a scientific way was the most effective means to promote active learning and critical thinking.

Through exposure to laboratory work, students learn the skills of handling equipment and gaining the expertise and become able to recognize errors.

A senior faculty member of the KU Physiology Department, Dr Farhat Zafar, also spoke on the occasion. The workshop is being supported by the HEC Pakistan and a foreign instrument firm.