Dental Tribune Pakistan Edition No.2, 2017

10 (cid:9)DENTAL TRIBUNE(cid:9) Pakistan Edition(cid:9)March 2017 INTERVIEW An exclusive interview(cid:9) with President PM&DC PM &DC is no w a are vibrant bo dy, CM E and M edical Education Interlinked: Prof Lehri T By Haseeb Uddin he president of Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PM&DC) Prof. Dr. Shabbir Ahmed Lehri, who is a neurosurgeon, after assuming office pledged to raise the quality of medical and dental education to match the international standards adding that there was an urgent need to improve PM&DC's image. He expressed his resolve to implement a zero-tolerance policy against corruption within the organization. He promised that all PMDC matters will be dealt with transparently and on merit. He also promised to make the council an effective institution for medical practitioners across the country, promising to personally address doctors' concerns and grievances. He took it upon himself as a challenge to change the image of PM&DC as a body which is there to address the issues concerning the medical and dental fraternity. He was recently interviewed by Dental Tribune Pakistan and the excerpts of the interview are as follows. DTI: As president of PMDC what are your immediate challenges and how do you propose to meet them? Shabbir Lehri: We inherited many issues when we took over PM&DC, however, the first and foremost issue was the pending registrations and experience certificates of around 20000 doctors. We worked day in and day out and within 2 months we dealt with all the pending registrations and experience certificates. Second biggest issue confronting the PM&DC was the nonexistence of a uniform curriculum at undergraduate level. We immediately started to work on it and you will soon see the results. Third challenge was the central induction in all the medical and dental colleges. There was no set criterion for the admission at undergraduate level. There have been instances where someone with 80% marks was denied admission but those with 60% marks got in solely on the basis of financial muscle, completely disregarding the merit. DTI: Since taking over as PMDC president, what changes have you brought about with regards to making it a more effective body? S Lehri : We have now made PM&DC a more vibrant body and have resolved all the pending issues of registrations and experience certificates. PM&DC of today is more open and accessible by doctors and is always in the forefront to resolve issues and problems related to medical education or fraternity as a whole. DTI: You have been recently been elected the only candidate elected from Asia and representing Pakistan, how are our relations with the IAMRA serving the PM&DC? S Lehri: Yes, I am the only one from Asia who is part of management committee member referred to as member at large, there are 5 to 7 from all over the world. As you know, the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities, is a nonprofit corporation and operates exclusively to support the purposes of the world's medical regulatory authorities. IAMRA strives to encourage the best practices among the world's MRAs and to respond to both their current and future needs. DTI: After your appointment in the IAMRA, you expressed your interest in having exchange programmes for Pakistani doctors, what is the progress on this front? S Lehri: We have developed a Faculty Exchange Program as we do not have trained faculty, and being a member of IAMRA I know how to bridge this gap. Therefore, we have passed a resolution to conduct a faculty training exchange program where our faculty will go abroad for training and vice versa. DTI: How would you compare the standard of medical education in Pakistan vis-à-vis developed countries? Has the CME played its role in keeping the professionals abreast? S Lehri: I have visited many universities globally and I feel that our education is not far behind, however we have limited resources. For instance we do not have 3D anatomy education tools. When I took over as president, there were international discussions going on that medical education in Pakistan is deteriorating to an extent that a ban was under consideration. I took the initiative and made Pakistan member of IAMRA which is a big achievement and a stepping stone to move our medical education in the right direction. It is our achievement that this crippled institution has been revamped. It is through the efforts of this council that the credibility of the organization is now restored both locally and internationally. As for CME, please understand that Teaching is an art - and those who do not possess this art need training to adopt it. It is like putting one concept into others and PhD's are the ones who by and large have adopted this. CME is directly interlinked with it. A doctor serving in a tertiary care hospital having attended multiple CME is better equipped and that is why it is mandatory across the globe. The CME committee is already working on it. There are different CME requirements for a doctor

Dental Tribune Pakistan Edition No.2, 2017

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