KARACHI, Jan 7: Sounding highly apprehensive about career opportunities as qualified medical technologists, more than 400 students at the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) institute foresee an uncertain future ahead as there exists no regulatory body on the status of medical technology, Dawn has learnt.

A vital part of clinical care, medical technology (MT), which deals with the diagnostic or therapeutic application of science and technology to improve the management of health conditions, is a neglected subject in the country that faces an acute shortage of qualified medical technologists, say experts.

Medical technologists are involved in diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and prevention of diseases. It is estimated that around 70 per cent of the medical decisions are based on the data obtained from laboratory testing performed by medical technologists/clinical laboratory scientists.

A few years back, it was only the Islamabad-based Pims (Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences) that offered in the public sector one bachelor’s course in medical technology, that is clinical pathology.

As a result, the general trend has been to employ matriculates, who at times have no training at all, at health units to perform various types of diagnostic procedures.

This serious lapse in clinical care has been a source of concern for senior medical practitioners who believe that the presence of incompetent staff not only poses a risk to life but also opens new avenues of exploitation.

In this backdrop, the IMT (Institute of Medical Technology) at DUHS emerged as an important institution in 2006, the first public-sector institution devoted to medical technology education, offering, for the first time, four-year bachelors courses in clinical pathology, critical care, operation theatre and ophthalmology.

A major initiative by the government, the institute has been grappling with a host of problems for the last three years, however.

Talking to Dawn, IMT students, of whom 70 per cent are girls, pointed out a number of issues adversely affecting their professional training which, they said, would eventually limit their future prospects.

Their major concern was related to a lack of official recognition of their job status.

“People ask us about our professional identity and status and the institution we are affiliated with. And we find it difficult to satisfy them since it’s a new field and hasn’t received any official recognition, unlike doctors and nurses,” a group of IMT students said.

The young students, most of whom opted for MT after failing to get admission to medical colleges, also complained about the attitude of medical staff during their visits to hospitals.

“Most of the staff discourages us with their remarks like ‘We don’t need you and there is no place for you here.’ Perhaps, this attitude stems from their fear that if competent medical technologists entered the market, they would be a threat to their jobs,” one of them said.

According to students, there is a serious shortage of teachers and at times senior students take classes of their juniors.

The institute functions without a laboratory and it is a major stumbling block to their professional training, especially in clinical pathology.

“A lack of lab training is often a source of embarrassment. At times, when a point is raised during hospital visits, we are told that we should have been taught about the subject in the lab before being sent here,” said another student. Though every student undergoes one-month practical training at a private or public sector hospital in a semester, most students showed dissatisfaction with the period allocated for the purpose.

“Since we don’t have any lab here, our entire practical learning depends upon one month’s training, which is not enough. It is not humanly possible to understand all the finer points involved in a diagnostic procedure in a month. By the time people start feeling comfortable talking to us, the month ends and when we join them again in the next semester, many students have forgotten the specific details about the subject,” they said.

What also makes the task of students even more difficult during their hospital visits is the fact that they are generally not accompanied by a teacher. “A teacher is with us only at the time of our first visit. No briefing whatsoever is given to us before and after a daily visit,” they said.

Another problem that perhaps has resulted due to the shortage of teachers is the approach to focus only on the aspect of a specialised field. “For instance, the main focus of my learning, theory as well as practical, is on general surgery, though I should be taught about the intricacies involved in other types of surgeries as the set-up and techniques of each and every surgery is an altogether different ball game,” says a student of operation theatre care.

Though faced with a number of problems, students praised efforts being made by the IMT director as well as DUHS officials for the upgrade of the institute and accepted the fact that they would have to endure greater hardships on account of being the first to undertake a new experience.

‘IMT will bring about a big change’

Responding to students’ concerns, Dr Syed Sarwat Hussain, IMT director, explained that the institute had overcome a number of problems hindering professional training during the past few months.

“Yes, we did have a shortage of teachers earlier, but in recent weeks we have appointed more teachers and regularised those who were previously on contract. At the moment, we have 16 teachers, though ideally we need over 20.

“With the increase in the number of teachers, many problems would automatically be solved. For instance, the need for a focal person during hospital visits. Besides, the proposal of a lab has been approved and its construction will soon begin. Slowly but surely, we will achieve our goals and the IMT will open new avenues of employment and success in life,” he said, while appreciating the support of the DUHS vice-chancellor for the uplift of the institute.

About official recognition through a regulatory body, he said the institute planned to submit proposals within months to the government in this regard. About the issues in practical training, he said students were sent to a number of public and private hospitals and they needed to get general know-how about their specific field.

Speaking about the negative remarks hurled at students during hospital visits, he said: “Yes, public awareness of the issue is needed, but students need not be discouraged by remarks of junior doctors or nurses and work harder. There is a big demand for qualified medical technologists in and outside the country.

“This is the first institute of its kind in the country and students will have to prove their mettle once they enter professional life. The programme has been approved by the Higher Education Commission and is compatible with international syllabus.

“Besides, there are a number of options for further studies. For instance, students can do a master’s or PhD in healthcare management, hospital administration, public health or if they aspire for a bigger slot, they can even become MDs (doctors of medicine) as I did after doing an MSC in pharmacy in Karachi and later did some short courses abroad. But, this is possible only in countries such as the United States, where they offer such programmes.”