City to get fifth public sector medical college

CM approves the establishment of PGMI Medical College, expected to start functioning from next year.

LAHORE: With the aim to grant degree awarding status to Post Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI), the chief minister has approved the establishment of PGMI Medical College, expected to start functioning from next year.

The college will be the fifth public sector medical college in the city. The others are the King Edward Medical University, the Allama Iqbal Medical College, the Fatima Jinnah Medical College and the Services Institute of Medical Sciences.

Shahbaz Sharif is expected to be the chief guest at the fourth convocation, to be held on February 26 (Saturday). He will also inaugurate some projects at the Lahore General Hospital.

Thanking the chief minister for the approval, PGMI principal Professor Dr Tariq Salahuddin has said that more quality medical colleges were needed. He said that PGMI Medical College will be attached with the Lahore General Hospital (LGH), “That the PGMI students will be able to start working as house officers at the LGH will be a great boon”.

According to the principal PGMI fulfilled all the criteria for being given a degree awarding status.

Salahuddin pointed out that in the Punjab only University of Health Sciences had degree awarding status, “In India, there are many. They plan to establish 100 more medical universities.”

He said that PGMI would be modelled after three medical institutions – the All India Medical Sciences, New Delhi; Aga Khan University, Karachi; and Al-Shifa, Islamabad.

The PGMI was established in 1974 under an act of parliament. “Besides conducting master’s classes in basic sciences, PGMI has conducted specialisation programmes like surgery. The institute hopes to soon start PhD classes.

Dr Tariq Salahuddin said that during the last year, 23 workshops were conducted in which paramedical staff, besides doctors, were trained to operate modern machines. “No university in Pakistan, except Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, has so far conducted more workshops in a year,” he said.

Briefing reporters about the capacity at PGMI, he said that the number of beds had been increased from 700 to 1,100. “Phase III of PGMI, which will have 18 operation theaters and a 25-bed ICU will be completed soon,” he added.

He said that institute will inaugurate Punjab Institute of Neuro Sciences (PINS) in the first week of June, which will have another 500 beds including 100 beds for an ICU. “Currently there are 16 beds in the ICU at LGH,” he added. He hoped that PINS would attract foreign assistance as well as doctors.

According to the principal’s briefing, one million patients were treated at the LGH last year.

“Over 3,500 patients use the outdoor and emergency facilities at Lahore  General Hospital,” Salahuddin said. He also said that the General Hospital is the only hospital of the province, which provides medical facilities to the outdoor patients in the evening.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2011.