We are not living in the 19th century and cannot afford to be wedded to the past.
ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to a report in your newspaper on March 31 which quoted representatives of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) as saying that “non-doctors should not be allowed to be inducted to teach basic (medical) sciences to doctors”.
The fact is that in today’s modern interdisciplinary world, this is tantamount to condemning doctors to remain ignorant of the latest developments impacting their field. They need to know about developments in genetics and bioengineering; they need to learn about the use of mathematical and statistical techniques in medicine and controlling epidemics; and they need to learn just how advances in technology affect the equipment they use in the dispensing of medical treatment.
This kind of attitude, where non-doctors are looked down upon and deemed unworthy of teaching doctors, needs to be dispensed with by the PMA. We are not living in the 19th century and cannot afford to be wedded to the past and to mindsets that don’t make sense in this day and age.
Professor Asghar Qadir
Director, Centre for Advanced Mathematics & Physics
National University of Sciences & Technology
Published in The Express Tribune, April 03rd, 2011.
