Starting educational courses, innovative
health delivery systems should be initiated
Community representatives’ involvement in management
could also help them generate donations
ISLAMABAD: Universities are supposed to create knowledge and also generate their own resources through educational courses, innovation in health delivery system rather than remain dependent on government funding for their efficient functioning. It is high time that leadership of these public sector medical universities learn some lessons from Aga Khan University, University of Lahore, Rapha University Islamabad and try to benefit from their experience. Similarly, their affiliated teaching hospitals also need some transformation. They need to look at the functioning of institutions like Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation and Indus Hospital at Karachi, even Ghurki Trust Teaching Hospital at Lahore. It is through their efficient functioning that they have established their credibility with the result that every year they manage to attract huge donations from philanthropists, members of the civil society and even foreign donor agencies.
University of Lahore in particular has set an example for many to follow. It attracts talent from everywhere, all inductions, appointments are made on merit and the faculty has initiated a large number of programms in medical education and numerous other disciplines. It runs numerous Certificate courses, Masters Courses and PhD programe. Even faculty members from the public sector medical institutions are enrolled at numerous educational programmers run by the University of Lahore. Agha Khan University is reported to have completed over one hundred clinical trials so far and attracted huge funding which helped them improve their infrastructure.
Public Sector medical universities are placed in a very protected environment and they can do a lot provided the selection of not only their heads but also the entire faculty is made on merit and competence. Not only that political interference should be stopped. These institutions must he given real autonomy. They should have the authority to plan, hire and fire the staff, look for international collaboration. At present unfortunately lot of deadwoods has managed to get jobs in these institutions who are least interested in academics. Why these universities cannot start some certificate courses, Fellowship training programmer needs to be investigated. There is lack of cohesion among the faculty members, professional jealousies restrict them from much needed within the institution and outside the institution collaboration. How many research projects these public sector medical universities have initiated, how many got completed, how much foreign funded studies they performed and if the answer is not encouraging, it is high time the authorities do some soul searching and try to find out the reasons behind all this.
The situation will never improve unless an annual academic audit is initiated, all future promotions are linked with research and publications. Instead of looking at the quantity the quality of the research work should be given importance. h- Index of the faculty members could be one of the criteria for not only appointments, selection as well as further academic promotions.
Even under these circumstances, some public sector medical universities in Sindh province i.e. Dow University of Health Sciences and Jinnah Sindh Medical University have shown the way how they are able to generate funds. DUHS established a state-of-the-art diagnostic laboratory and research center. Their Reference Laboratory has many collection units just like Aga Khan University and Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital and Research Centre and provides quality laboratory and radiology reports at highly subsidized rates. Their reliable services attract a large number of patients every day and it is a great source of income for the university. It has also taken some other initiatives to generate funds from the pharmaceutical industry, donors, philanthropists credit for which goes to the founder Vice Chancellor Prof. Masood Hameed Khan.
His initiatives were further promoted by the Prof. Saeed Qureshi and a visit to the university campus will show how much progress it has made during the past ten years. Similarly, the JSMU has also established a Diagnostic Centre and Laboratory, attracted funding from philanthropists, community representatives. Why similar initiatives could not be taken by the King Edwad Medical University and Fatima Jinnah Medical University remains a question mark. If Ghurki Trust Hospital can attract lot of donations and funding not only from all over the country but overseas as well, why Mayo Hospital and Ganga Ram Hospital cannot? Those running and managing these institutions must ponder over this issue and try to find some answer.
On a suggestion from late President Gen. Muhammad Ziaul Haque the Alumni of the medical institutions in Pakistan settled overseas had started helping, assisting and providing funding for different projects to their alma matters. Some of the Alumni’s have contributed a great deal. This source can be tapped further by involving them in different capacities. Above all the institutions have to think of projects which should help generate funds for their institutions. Since inductions of faculty members in public sector institutions is always not on merit, the management can opt for acquiring the services of Visiting Faculty in areas where they think they are deficient. There will be some resistance to this idea from the faculty but it has to be managed taking all the stakeholders in confidence. Some of these faculty members could be very helpful to start some programmes provided they are invited, given due respect and asked for help. Looking towards the government for everything is not going to help. Friends of the Hospitals, Universities in many countries of the world who are drawn from the community are doing wonderful job helping them generate funds and also enhancing their image and credibility.
Any institution which is totally dependent on government funding does not have a bright future in view of the scarce resources the government has. The sooner those at the helm of affairs realize it, the better it will be for the future of these public sector medical institutions.
