What ails the Pakistani medical institutions?

Open Access Despite the fact that there is no dearth of talent in Pakistan, our contributions to medical literature and research is very negligible as compared to other Muslim countries like Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey and even Saudi Arabia. Even our neighboring countries like India and Bangladesh have made tremendous progress during the last two decades but our performance in this field leaves much to be desired. If a critical analysis is made, it will reveal that politicizing of the medial institutions, disregard for merit while making appointments for the heads of various institutions, extensions in service to those with close contact with corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, lack of any faculty development programme, too much political interference in running and managing the medial institutions in the public sector are some of the reasons for this sad state of affairs. As regards the private sector, they are in business, their first priority is to make money hence most of the institutions in the private sector are least interested in research. An institution is only as good as its faculty but this is one aspect which gets the least attention of our planners and administrators. On the contrary the funds are utilized on buildings and purchase of equipment and other such services which offer lucrative chances for corruption and kickbacks. Little do the authorities concerned realize that availability of costly precious equipment and instruments is of no use if those who are going to use them are not properly trained and experienced? Not only that they are provided facilities to constantly keep themselves update with the latest developments by offering them refresher course and training opportunities. Yet another important cause of our poor performance is the Pakistani mentality of having " Total Control " leaving very little room for a team work. Just look at the way some of our medical universities are functioning. Their Charter was prepared in such a way that the post of Principal was abolished with the result that the post of Vice Chancellor has been degraded to that of Principal. While the Principal is supposed to look after the day to day affairs of medical college and concentrate on undergraduate medical education, the Vice Chancellor is supped to be a visionary who concentrates on postgraduate studies, training, designing of various postgraduate programmes, faculty development, collaboration with other institutions of higher learning at home and abroad. At …