MBBS students

KHAIRPUR: Doctors spend up to 18 hours of the day non-stop on shift to save human lives. To become a doctor, one has to pass a multitude of tests, which are not easy by any means. Looking at just this year, in Punjab’s 20 medical colleges, there were approximately 56,000 candidates while there were only 4,000 seats, which means only 4,000 students were considered for the MBBS degree, while the other 52,000 candidates were rejected. During their education, medical students need to be provided with basic facilities so that they can succeed in their fields. There is a medical college in Khairpur where students from 10 districts are studying for their MBBS. Khairpur Medical College (KMC) was established mainly due to the efforts of Syed Qaim Ali Shah but we are unable to understand whether to thank him or mourn for the college because of many reasons, including that the KMC is unrecognised by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council.

Talented students at the KMC are deprived of scholarships and many other basic needs. The worst part is that there are no hostels for boys so students helplessly have to pay high house rents. There is a girls’ hostel with only 15 rooms and there are often eight students in one room instead of three. Furthermore, there are over 300 students enrolled at the college but its central library contains space for only 50 students. There is shortage of drinking water. There is also no university transport. Even government colleges are in 100 times better condition than KMC. I request Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah to visit the KMC and see the conditions for themselves.

Dr Salahuddin Rustamani

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2016.

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