ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday underscored the need for improving the quality of medical education as well as introducing uniform syllabi to establish an education standard in the field of medicine.
The president, chairing the 5th meeting of the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Islamabad (SZABMU), at Aiwan-e-Sadr, said that medical institutions needed to produce more nursing and para-medical staff to cater to the health needs of the country.
Vice-Chancellor of SZABMU, Professor Dr Tanwir Khaliq, members of the Senate and faculty attended the meeting. Addressing the meeting, the president emphasized the need for developing partnerships with foreign universities to get access to foreign courses and educational content through online education.
He said that establishing partnerships and linkages with foreign universities was the fastest way to improve the quality of education in the country.
He also called for focusing on the prevention of diseases that was far easier and cheaper as compared to curative treatment and would also help reduce the disease burden on the country’s health infrastructure. He said that SZABMU should be an exemplary institution and role model for others in the medical sector, adding that medical institutions should also focus on inculcating the spirit of serving humanity among their graduates.
The SZABMU vice-chancellor briefed the president about the initiatives taken by the university for promoting medical education.
Professor Dr Rizwan Taj informed the meeting that measures were being taken to increase the number of nurses in the country.
The meeting endorsed the minutes of the 4th Senate meeting held on March 18, 2022. The meeting also approved the appointment of two Deans, Prof Dr Rana Imran Sikandar and Prof Dr Moosa Khan as members of the syndicate under the SZABMU Act 2013.
Meanwhile, First Lady Begum Samina Alvi on Monday said that the promotion of floral art and plantation activities were vital to create an environmental balance and address the issues related to mental health.
The first lady, addressing a national show held by the Floral Art Society’s Islamabad Chapter, said the floral art was not merely a hobby or pastime rather a form of therapy beneficial for mental health and reducing the stress and anxiety.
