ISLAMABAD: Inductions in the Master of Surgery (MS) and the Doctor of Medicine (MD) programmes could not be started at Shaikh Zayed Hospital (SZH), Lahore, for the past two years despite several attempts.

Federal Postgraduate Medical Institute (FPGMI) Dean Prof Moona Aziz said that a number of letters had been written to the University of Health Sciences (UHS) to start the inductions process and he hoped that the issuewould be resolved soon.

However, UHS Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore said that the inductions were not being made due to funding constraints.

It is worth mentioning that MD and MS, both being postgraduate medical degrees, represent different specialisations. MD is pursued in non-surgical fields, while MS is for surgical specialisations.

After Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), students have to study four more years to become an MD or MS.

Association of University Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (AUPSP) General Secretary Dr Asad Noor Mirza, while talking to Dawn, said that SZH had been inducting MS and MD students since the early 1990s and almost 100 candidates were inducted after every sixmonths. The same number was being inducted for the Fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS).

`Since 2022, inductions (for MS and MD) have been suspended at SZH. It is unfair to stop inductions in a country where doctors verses patients ratio is very low. Unfortunately, there are differences between the FPGMI and the UHS, as both want to do the inductions themselves, due to which the process has been stopped,` he said.

FPGMI Dean Prof Aziz confirmed the same issue and said, `UHS wants to do the inductions on its own, but we believe that it is our right. We have written to the UHS many times and I hope that we will get the permission by the university to start inductions`.

Prof Rathore, on the otherhand, said that MD and MS were central induction programmes of the government of Punjab and every year 50pc seats were filled through the MS/MD programmes and 50pc through the FCPS.

`However as FPGMI has become a federal chapter, so the issue of who willbe paying the stipendtothe candidateshasarisen.

We are looking into the issue,` he said.

However replying to a question, Dr Noor said that SZH paid stipend to the candidates on its own, similar to it paying FCPS candidates without any break or fund constraints.

He said that many doctors, from all four provinces, AJK and GB, were waiting for training in the institute since 2022. He urged the authorities to take steps to safeguard theirfuture.