An appreciation from a well wisher
My dear Shaukat,
The date (April 1st when I am writing this letter) is a mere co-incidence. No one is fooling anyone in this World except oneself because the final result has yet to come.
I am just writing a short note because I have been seriously ill and I thought that the present time is appropriate to wish you and your family all the best and blessings for Ramadan and Eid. It will probably be my last note to someone I really respect and admire. You have done so much for the profession and especially in the field of scientific writing that it would take a book to recount. Now you have taken up another project “History of Medicine in Pakistan”- I am sure another Epic, wish you all the success.
I want to thank you for all your help, cooperation, encouragement over the years- only Allah can pay that back – now and in the hereafter. Amin. I have progressive cardiovascular disease. Best of luck.
Yours sincerely,
Kh. Saadiq Husain FRCP, FCPS,
MAM, Former President CPSP
Principal and Professor of Medicine,
King Edward Medical College,
Lahore. Pakistan.
Thanks Khawja Sahib,
May you live longer and enjoy good health. This communication from you is no less than an Award which I and my family will cherish for a long time to come. Stay blessed. SAJ
Use of AI in medical education & Healthcare
This refers to the write-up by Prof. Atif Qureshi about the International Medical Conference related to Prof. Parveen Kumar’s meeting with students and faculty at Superior University published In Pulse international, March 15-31, 2024 issue.
First of all my heartfelt congratulations to the organizers of this wonderful moot, the first of its kind at SUPERIOR University Lahore. I have witnessed their 3U1M program firsthand, a paradigm shift in education and training, spearheaded by none other than their Rector Professor Dr Sumaira Rehman. It is no doubt an innovative and unique program with far lasting outcomes.
With regards to the invitation to Professor Praveen Kumar to attend this medical conference and her interaction with students and faculty alike at the conference, I am thrilled to note her views on the role of artificial intelligence with regards to patient care and healthcare delivery in future as a complement to the human intervention rather than a replacement of it. In the article, it is stated that Professor Praveen Kumar emphasized that the ‘human touch’ which by her own accord are the ‘soft skills‘ that the healthcare professionals possess; and the artificial intelligence does not, will be the key feature ensuring a complimentary relationship between AI and HCPs, as compared to a relationship that replaces ‘human’ HCPs with AI.
I wonder, in a healthcare delivery and education system like ours, how much of this actually holds true. We do not teach any ‘soft skills’ to our medical students, nor are they emphasized during their postgraduate training or continuing medical education and professional development. Observations abound, which highlight the lack of the human touch in the human, health care professionals in Pakistan. Many reasons are being provided for the lack of this ‘human touch’, including the aforementioned lack of training, lack of development of a culture that supports soft skills and treating patients humanely, as well as increasing workload and depleting resources. Whatever the cause may be, it is evident that as far as these soft skills are concerned our healthcare professionals are no better than the AI systems developed at present if not worse. Mind you Sir, the AI systems will only grow better as the artificial intelligence learns the human touch and we as humans forget it.
Prof. Dr. Junaid Sarfraz Khan
Dean/Chief Executive Officer
Lady Reading Hospital-MTI
Peshawar. Pakistan.
