Lahore: The University of Health Sciences (UHS) Vice-Chancellor Professor Javed Akram has said that today’s careers look nothing like they did 20 or even just 10 years ago. “The field of medical education evolves so fast that techniques, skills, and technologies become obsolete within five to ten years. That is why being a lifelong learner plays an important role in the educational process. It helps medical educators incorporate new tools and strategies into the learning process to boost their students’ learning development”, he added.

He was addressing a certificate distribution ceremony here at UHS on Thursday. It was organized by the varsity’s Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) for 60 successful participants of the 12th batch of Certificate in Medical Teaching (CMT) course.

Professor Javed Akram said that the CMT program aimed at making a difference in classroom teaching. He further said that the credit of its success goes to its participants and facilitators.

UHS VC said that teaching is an art and professionals in the medical field were encouraged to develop lifelong learning skills. “This is based on the idea that ongoing critical reflection will help the medical professional of the future to cope with problems we cannot yet foresee, such as what happened in the case of Covid-19”, he stressed.

Professor Javed Akram believed that as human beings we were only making use of a small part of our possible mental and physical resources. He said that we could do so much more if we just put more of our brains to work.

UHS Pro-VC Professor Maroof Aziz Khan while appreciating the efforts of mentors said that a structured approach was critical to the success of any teaching activity and preparation and planning were key elements in ensuring the learning was systematic and effective.

UHS Registrar Dr. Asad Zaheer stressed the importance of continuing medical education for teachers to constantly update their skills so that “they are capable of meeting the needs of future doctors”.

The focal person of the program Professor Sidra Saleem said the course was taught on campus in two sessions. Between the teaching sessions, the students carried out a series of activities at their workplace and gathered evidence of their teaching practice. She informed the course was launched in 2010 under the International Strategic Partnership in Research and Education (INSPIRE) project sponsored by the British Council.

The topics covered in the course included the learning process of students, planning and delivering lectures to large and small groups, principles of assessment, and evaluation and innovation.

Professor Sidra Saleem further said that so far 800 medical teachers from all over Punjab as well as from medical institutes of AJ&K had completed the training under the program.

UHS Director Medical Education Dr. Khalid Rahim and Khawaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College Sialkot’s Dean Professor Nadeem Afzal also spoke on the occasion.

 

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