Reforming Medical Education in Pakistan through strengthening Departments of Medical Education

Abstract

Objective:To review the current status of departments of medical education in all public and private medical colleges located in the city of Lahore, Pakistan.Methods:This was a quantitative, cross sectional descriptive study; conducted from March to October 2015 in Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PM&DC) recognized medical colleges located in Lahore, Pakistan. Respondents were the heads of departments of medical education or any other well-informed faculty member. A questionnaire was prepared to obtain information about the current status of the departments of medical education (DMEs). The investigator personally visited all medical colleges for data collection. Both verbal and written consents were obtained and the questionnaire was administered to the resource persons. The data was organized and entered in SPSS for descriptive analysis.Results:Out of the 18 medical colleges in Lahore, six (33.3%) belonged to public sector and 12 (66.7%) were from private sector. All medical colleges reported to have a functional DME. However, eight had established DMEs during the past five years. Only one (5.6%) head of DME was working on full-time basis. Eleven (61.1%) heads of DMEs did not have any formal qualification in medical education. Eight (44.4%) colleges claimed to have adequate human resources for DME. Thirteen (72.2%) colleges mentioned that adequate financial resources were available for running DMEs. It is encouraging to see that DMEs in private sector medical colleges are playing increasingly significant role in managing educational activities. Similarly, the senior management of private sector seems to be relatively more eager to promote educational activities.Conclusion:There is an increasing recognition towards establishing DMEs in the medical colleges, but their infrastructure, proper functioning and availability of human and financial resources are serious impediments requiring immediate attention.

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“…34 This is especially notable in the developing world, where most teaching is still traditional and teacher centered with limited patient interaction. 35 Based on our results, we propose a novel conceptual model to bring curricular reforms. These would allow for short-term possibilities to deal with the current crisis and long-term strategies to establish permanent changes in medical education (Figure 1).…”

“…Nonetheless, deficits in medical curricula regarding health advocacy and service learning are still widely recognized 34 . This is especially notable in the developing world, where most teaching is still traditional and teacher centered with limited patient interaction 35 …”

Is enhancing the professionalism of healthcare providers critical to tackling antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries?

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Progress and prospects of medical education research in Asian Countries

“…Majority of the medical schools do not have a full time qualified medical education faculty. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) should provide policy to strengthen the medical education and its allied research in the country 18…”