KARACHI: In an effort to improve family planning services in the country, seven courses have been created for medical students as a part of the Family Advancement for Life and Health (FALAH) project.
The modules will be taught to students as a part of the curriculum at medical colleges and universities in the country. Some of the members involved in the FALAH project include Jhpiego (an affiliate of John Hopkins University), Population Council and Greenstar. In order to bring the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) on board with the initiative, a three-day orientation workshop on ‘Basic Minimum Birth Spacing and Family Planning Content Package’ was started on Tuesday.
The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development and FALAH conducted the needs assessment in 2008. The research was conducted at three medical colleges: Chandka Medical College in Larkana, Quaid-e-Azam Medical College in Bahawalpur and Nishter Medical College in Multan. “We discovered that the present curriculum seriously lacks hands-on training for family planning services and techniques,” said Dr Muhammad Waqar Saleem, who is a training specialist working with FALAH.
The most common problems were with the insertion and removal of the intra-uterine contraceptive device (IUCD) or coil and the correct use of instruments which prevent infections.
The group developed the modules keeping this in mind. It has been shared with five public medical college and universities so far. These include Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University in Larkana, Khyber Medical University in Peshawar, Lahore Medical and Dental College and Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences in Jamshoro.
The pace and time for the introduction of the modules are customised to suit each medical institution. Dr Saleem is confident that once the modules are properly incorporated, they will put “future medical graduates at a much stronger foothold than the present ones.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 30th, 2011.
COMMENTS (7)
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Shouldn't it already be a part of the curriculum?
@abdul jabbar: Yes, Shockingly surprising !!
@narayana murthy: Lack of quality can never be compensated by excess of quantity
Conspiracy against Islam.
I don't understand; birth control and reproductive health were already part of the syllabus of Community Medicine, taught at colleges all over the country and approved by the PMDC.
you mean to tell us that up until now, birth control wasn't being taught to doctors!!! how could that be,why wasn't it being taught to medical students? if the doctors themselves won't know then how will they guide and advise the common man and woman? i've heard maulvis and ulema rail and whine over family planning as a yahodi saazish but i never expected that things would be so bad that our medical colleges wouldn't have been teaching it.