LAHORE: The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has decided to include its flagship community service programme `Pyari Beti` in its curriculum for the undergraduate medical students.

The announcement was made at the UHS by its Vice Chancellor Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore in a meeting of the heads of community medicine departments of medical colleges across Punjab on Friday.

The Pyari Beti initiative, launched to provide adolescent girls from all socioeconomic backgrounds with guidance on reproductive health, psychological well-being and nutrition, will now be a mandatory community service activity for fourth-year MBBS students at the UHSaffiliated colleges.

`This is a unique opportunity for our medical students to serve the community while learning from real-world experiences, said Prof Rathore.

`From this year onwards, fourth-year MBBS students will engage in classroombased learning followed by field visits to schools and local health facilities. Their interaction with girls aged nine to 19 will be guided by evidence-based practices to address physical and psychological challenges related to reproductive health.

He said the students would maintain a logbook of their activities and would be assessed as a part of their internal evaluation in the subject of Community Medicine while their performance would also be assessed during the 4th professional examination.

Calling upon the faculty to actively support the implementation of the programme, Prof Rathore said: `I urge you to prepare the students not just academically but emotionally and ethically for this important role. This initiative is expected to yield long-term benefits for the health and social empowerment of young girls across the province.

The meeting was attended by Pro Vice Chancellor and Pyari Beti focal person Prof Nadia Naseem, Head of Medical Education Prof Sumaira Badar and others.