LAHORE: Taking a major step, the University of Health Sciences (UHS) has revised the more than a decade-old MBBS curriculum, proposing clinical training to be given to the students at the medical college from their first day.

It has decided to do away with the condition of the evaluation of MPhil and master’s degree programmes by foreign evaluators.

The new modular and integrated curriculum will come into effect at medical colleges across Punjab from March 1 with the main objective to produce world-class doctors.

A joint meeting of the UHS Academic Council and the Board of Studies Medicine approved the new modular curriculum on Friday.

Revises old MBBS curriculum, includes clinical training from the start

Presided over by Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Ahsan Waheed Rathore, the meeting was attended by the heads and senior faculty of all the affiliated medical colleges of Punjab besides UHS Registrar Professor Nadia Naseem and Controller of Examinations Professor Saqib Mehmood.

The new curriculum consists of 44 modules and 5,500 hours during the five years programme. Additionally, 500 hours are reserved for self-directed study. In assessments, 80pc weightage will be given to the university professional exams and 20pc to the internal evaluation of performance by the respective colleges.

Professionalism, ethics, research, leadership, and information technology are prominent features of the new curriculum. The disciplines of Family Medicine, Public Health, and Minimum Service Delivery Standards (MSDS) set by the Punjab Healthcare Commission have been incorporated in the new syllabus.

UHS Director Medical Education Dr Khalid Rahim gave a briefing to the members on the new curriculum.

Prof Rathore said the faculty of the colleges would be trained to teach the new syllabus and for this purpose, workshops would be organised for the faculty at 12 centres from Feb 27.

The UHS VC said the university was committed to keeping pace with the global trends in medical education.

“Our undergraduate modular integrated curriculum ensures knowledge gain with relevance to its clinical application,” he said and added that the new curriculum safeguarded early clinical exposure with broad-based skill acquisition.

Prof Rathore said it had promised a yield of doctors who would be equipped with competencies to cope with professional challenges locally and globally.

On this occasion, the members of both statutory bodies congratulated the university on taking the long-awaited initiative.

In the meeting, it was also approved to do away with the condition of evaluation of the theses by a foreign examiner in MPhil and other master’s degree programmes, including MS, MD, and MDS. It was decided to adopt the policy of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for the PhD thesis evaluation. In this regard, the members were informed that the university regulations prescribed the requirement of evaluation of research theses for foreign evaluators, in addition to the local examiners. However, the HEC rules and regulations did not impose such a condition for a master’s degree.

It was told that the prescription, intended for the improvement of the quality of research, had resulted in certain problems, including the identification of foreign evaluators, especially in clinical research disciplines, availability of researchers from the developed world for the evaluation of master’s theses, delays in theses evaluation process and transfer of remuneration of foreign evaluators in the light of recent stringent regulatory restrictions.

In addition to the delay, evaluation from foreign examiners put a major financial burden on UHS as 200USD was being paid for the evaluation of each master’s degree thesis. Hence, it was proposed to amend regulations to the extent of waiving off the requirement of thesis evaluation by foreign evaluators in MPhil and other master’s degree programmes. It was also agreed upon by the members that the university should offer postgraduate programmes in medical disciplines only.

Prof Rathore said that no programmes in the non-medical field would be offered from the current academic session and the basic qualification for admission to the university postgraduate courses would be MBBS or BDS.

Additionally, all such BS programmes as had no career prospects for the students would also be abolished. The meeting also approved the recentralization of practical examinations in MBBS and BDS.

UHS VC informed that many reforms had been made in the examination system and the senior faculty was given the responsibility of monitoring the exams. He directed the principals of colleges to visit centres during examinations.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2023