Vice Chancellor Khyber Medical University (KMU) Peshawar Prof. Dr. Zia ul Haq on Wednesday said that after introducing a modern modular curriculum in medical colleges now in all undergraduate medical, dental colleges, nursing, physiotherapy, and allied health sciences institutes a new syllabus of Islamiyat has been also introduced. He said that the new Islamiyat curriculum will not only help young doctors and other healthcare workers to raise awareness about the basic beliefs and practices of Islam, but it will also help inculcate in them basic human ethics.
He expressed these views while speaking as a chief guest at the introductory ceremony of the new curriculum of Islamic studies at the undergraduate level. On this occasion, the Convener of the Islamiyat curriculum committee and former VC Prof. Dr. Hafiz Ullah, members of the committee Prof. Dr. Hafiz Abdul Ghafoor, Qari Roohullah Madani, Prof. Dr. Rashid Ahmed, Dr. Braikhna Jameel, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Zahid, Dr. Syed. Hamid Habib, Dr. Abdul Manan, Ms. Samina, and Director Academic Muhammad Islam were also present.
Prof. Dr. Zia ul Haq said that after harmonizing the medical curriculum with the modern requirements, KMU has introduced Islamiyat’s new curriculum in undergraduate medical, dental colleges, nursing, physiotherapy, and allied health sciences institute to train the young doctors and health care workers of the province.
We certainly do not lack good doctors and medical experts in terms of professional skills, but we are acutely lacking in such medical experts who are the best doctors as well as have the best morals, compassion, and sincerity. We rightly expect that this new syllabus of Islamic studies will prove to be a revolutionary step in shaping the all-round character of medical and allied health students, he added. Prof. Zia said that the reforms introduced in the Islamiyat curriculum have been made in light of the guidelines of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, keeping in view the requirements of the present day.
It is worth mentioning that the old syllabus of Islamiyat was suitable to some extent for general graduation classes, but that syllabus did not include anything special regarding medical ethics. Under this feeling, it was decided to create a new curriculum of Islamic Studies, which will help in raising the awareness of the basic beliefs and worship of Islam among the concerned students and also in creating basic human ethics.
Therefore KMU decided to introduce a new curriculum by including medical ethics as a subject in the curriculum, which not only contains the basic teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah but also includes medical principles and regulations, the importance of treatment in Islam, rights, and duties of a physician and some other important topics of the same kind are also covered. This new syllabus consists of ten chapters in which references to Quran and Hadiths are also given along with each topic.
