LAHORE – The University of Health Sciences (UHS) on Wednesday held an inaugural ceremony to formally launch the new MBBS and BDS curricula, marking a major milestone in medical and dental education in Punjab.
Punjab Minister for Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Khawaja Salman Rafique attended the ceremony as the chief guest.
He formally launched the final version of the MBBS Modular Curriculum 2K23 and the second version of the BDS Integrated Curriculum 2K25 by pressing a button on a laptop, making the curricula live on the university’s website.
Addressing the gathering, Khawaja Salman Rafique congratulated the vice chancellor and the university administration on the launch of the new curricula, describing it as work meant for generations rather than a short-term initiative.
He termed the participants of the ceremony as “legends” and said he felt honoured to work alongside them.
The minister said emergency care remained the biggest challenge in the health sector, for which proper training of students was essential.
He added that discipline had been introduced in institutions on the directions of the chief minister and praised universities and medical colleges for delivering commendable performance.
He also lauded Vice Chancellor UHS Professor Ahsan Waheed Rathore, saying the university’s reforms were fully aligned with policy guidelines.
The new curricula will be implemented across all public and private medical and dental colleges in Punjab. Approval was granted during a joint meeting of the UHS Syndicate and the Boards of Studies for Medicine and Dentistry. Registrar UHS Kiran Fatima presented the resolution for approval, which was subsequently signed by the conveners of the boards, the chairman of the syndicate and the minister for specialised healthcare.
The revised curricula place special emphasis on professionalism and practical skills, moving beyond traditional teaching methods. Principals of various medical and dental colleges termed the launch a historic moment.
The ceremony was attended by Vice Chancellor UHS Professor Ahsan Waheed Rathore, Vice Chancellor Fatima Jinnah Medical University Professor Khalid Masood Gondal, former health minister Professor Javed Akram, Vice Chancellor King Edward Medical University Professor Mahmood Ayaz, Captain (retd) Zahid Saeed, Vice Chancellor UCHS Professor Masood Sadiq, Professor Rashid Latif, Professor Nadia Naseem, Professor Tayyaba Wasim, Professor Zahra Khanum and a large number of principals from public and private medical colleges.
Other prominent attendees included Dr Zahid Parvez, Justice (retd) Sheikh Ahmed Farooq, Professor Majeed Chaudhry, Professor Shehla Javed Akram, Dr Khalid Raheem, Professor Samira Ehsan and Professor Arshad Cheema.
Speaking on the occasion, Professor Ahsan Waheed Rathore said the new MBBS curriculum was finalised after three years of continuous stakeholder review, with around 700 faculty members contributing to its development.
He said special focus was placed on faculty capacity building and that the curriculum was designed in line with international standards and national requirements.
He added that, for the first time in Pakistan, such a large number of stakeholders were involved in curriculum development and review, with full support from the Punjab government.
Referring to World Health Organization recommendations made in 1997 for revising medical curricula, he said the vision had finally been realised in 2025.
The UHS vice chancellor further noted that curricula for nursing and postgraduate programmes had also been revised, adding that the introduction of a clerkship-based model would significantly improve the quality of medical training in the country.
