Hiring of professors: KEMU accused of violating recruitment rules

CPSP asks Health Department to address matter.

LAHORE:

The College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) has written to the Health Department complaining about alleged violations in the King Edward Medical University’s (KEMU) advertised criteria for the recruitment of two professors.

The university is looking to hire a professor of anaesthesia and an associate professor of child psychiatry. The job adverts state that those with the following qualifications are eligible: MPhil (Master of Philosophy), PhD (Doctorate of Philosophy), MS (Master of Science), MD (Doctorate of Medicine), FCPS (Fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons), FRCS (Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons) and MRCP (Membership of the Royal College of Physicians).

In a letter to the Health Department, CPSP Secretary Brigadier (retd) Dr Masood Ahmad complained about the inclusion of holders of MPhil degrees in the list. Included with the letter are citations of the rules and regulations allegedly violated by the KEMU.

MPhil degrees in clinical sciences, such as anaesthesia and child psychiatry, are not offered in Pakistan, wrote the secretary. Further, under the rules, holders of MPhil degrees are not eligible to be professors. Also, he complained, the advert “equated” the MPhil degree with the FCPS degree. The FCPS degree is issued by the CPSP. According to a Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) notification dated May 26, 2011, the MPhil is a “level II-b” qualification and the FCPS is a “level III-b” qualification. “These two qualifications cannot be equated,” said a PMDC official.

The CPSP secretary also cited the minutes of a meeting between the Higher Education Commission and the PMDC on February 3, 2012. According to the minutes, “PMDC informed (HEC) that MPhil isn’t offered in clinical subjects”. The two bodies also decided at the meeting that the PhD requirement for the appointment of faculty in clinical sciences in medical universities or colleges would be removed, according to the minutes.

Brig (r) Ahmed claimed that the advertisements would “further dissuade qualified persons to join government services” and “harm important clinical subjects like anaesthesia and psychiatry”. He asked the Health Department to instruct the university to address the situation.

Special Assistant to the CM on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique said that he would look into the matter.

KEMU Acting VC Professor Asad Aslam Khan said the CPSP was making a mountain out of a molehill. He said that the university’s senate had approved some new “generalised rules” for the hiring of faculty to allow holders of MPhil degrees to apply. These new rules had been made public before the hiring process for the two professors started. He said: “If there is no MPhil in psychiatry or anaesthesia, nobody with an MPhil will apply and the jobs will go to FCPS/MCPS/FRCS/MS/MD people. What’s the big deal?”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2013.