Dental college for Rawalpindi approved
The government has given formal approval to the establishment of the first dental college in Rawalpindi.
Sources said that the project concept -1 (PC-1) worth Rs240 million has been prepared to convert the Officers’ Ward building of the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) into a dental college block in the first phase.
Two classes of the dental colleges will also be held in Rawalpindi Medical University until a fully-fledged separate building is established in the second phase.
There is no dedicated dental college in the garrison city for dentistry education, research and training. Owing to the non-existence of a single public-sector medical dental college in the Rawalpindi division, there is an immense shortage of trained dental surgeons.
Dental departments in public sector hospitals have to deal with an increased influx of patients on a daily basis, where ordinary dentists provide them treatment.
A plan to establish a dental college in Rawalpindi had been in the cold storage for the last 30 years.
With no public sector dedicated dental college in the Rawalpindi division, citizens have to visit hospitals in Islamabad for treatment while students have to go to dental colleges in other cities for dental education.
Rawalpindi Medical University Vice-Chancellor Dr Muhammad Omar said that the establishment of a dental college will be a pivotal step for training doctors and treatment of patients.
He said that the dental college will be made a state-of-the-art institution having highly qualified faculty members.
The establishment of the dental college will usher in a new era of education for the students of the Rawalpindi division.
In the absence of any dental college, parents had to send their children to Lahore and other cities in the province for dental education at great expense.
The education provided by private dental education colleges is very expensive and beyond the reach of the middle class.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2022.