Liaquat National Hospital (LNH), the largest private sector tertiary care hospital of the city organized its 6th Annual Symposium from December 11 to 13, 2009 at LNH, in Karachi. The theme of the Symposium was “Health Care Dilemma – Cost & Quality”, one of the major challenges facing by the profession in Pakistan today. The symposium was attended by over 3000 people including well-known doctors, medical allied specialists and intellectuals.
Speakers during the symposium expressed their concern on the rise in various diseases in the country, saying that this is a challenge to healthcare professionals as well.
Prof. S. M. Rab, Chief Guest of the occasion spoke on the challenges and responsibilities that the medical community share at this time. Dr. Salman Faridi, Medical Director, LNH said that the medical profession has developed various specialties and expertise was available to treat various complicated cases. Population is growing on fast rate in Pakistan and it is the need of the hour to train more healthcare professionals to meet the medical needs of the population. He expressed satisfaction over the hospitals performance of training over 250 specialists with higher degrees, who are serving in every corner of our beloved country.
Later, he paid tribute to the late Wajid Ali Shah, Chairman Board of Governors at Liaquat National Hospital for over 50 years and spoke of his passion to make LNH a leader in medical training, research and delivery of health for all.
Dr. Pervaiz Ashraf, Chairperson of the symposium spoke on the objectives of holding such a big event at this historic institution.
The event started with Medical Education Sessions on Undergraduate Teaching Methodologies, Postgraduate Teaching/Training and a Seminar for Nursing along with the Inauguration Dinner.
Prof. Pirzada Qasim, Prof. Masood Hameed and Prof. Amir Ali Shoro spoke in the session. Discussion to try and find a common core curriculum which is integrated, clinically and problem oriented, with a commonly acceptable assessment method.
Department of Physiotherapy organized a workshop on Neurological assessment and treatment in physiotherapy. It was Great Experience for all Faculty and Students for holding such workshop which was attended by more than 250 participants and principal of JPMC, Ziauddin Hospital and Bahria University.
Department of Orthopaedics in collaboration with Pakistan Orthopaedic Association arranged a workshop on 3rd Cadaveric Total Knee Arthroplasty. The workshop was organized by Dr. Syed Shahid Noor, Head of Department of Orthopaedics at Liaquat National Hospital. Dr. Zaki Idrees, Consultant Orthopaedics Surgeon at LNH coordinated the workshop whereas Prof. I. A. Jokhio was the chief guest of the workshop.
Short lectures covering all aspects of the subject were presented. Live surgeries were broadcast along with an interactive Q&A session. The cadavaric hands-on session was held after the lunch break with a total of 8 knees being operated upon.
The session was closed with a vote of thanks by Dr. Syed Shahid Noor and shields and certificates were distributed to all the participants and the faculty by Dr. Khan Shah Azam, President, Pakistan Orthopaedic Association.
General Surgery Department organized a 3-days comprehensive workshop covering major basic principle of laparoscopy, especially for trainees. Stapled Anastomosis workshop covered all basic principles and techniques available for Anastomosis. Workshop aligned together surgery and allied residents and it proved to be good learning for trainees. Speaking on this occasion, Dr. Rufina Soomro, Dr. Khurshaidi, Dr. Zahid Habib, Prof. Turab Pishori and Dr. Salman Faridi said that in future further hands on workshops will be conducted at LNH as we are working on making a wet and simulation lab at LNH.
Speaking on first ever Endoscopic Transphenoidal pituitary surgery workshop, Dr. Salman Sharif said that Endoscopic removal of pituitary tumor is now a proven safe and effective minimally invasive method. Brain tumors are successfully removed via minimally invasive brain surgery at LNH for last 3 years. On this occasion a surgery was performed by Prof. Naveed Ashraf from Lahore and Dr. Salman Sharif, which was shown live to all the senior neurosurgeons from all over Pakistan. In the end, Prof. Ahmed Ali Shah gave away the shields and expressed satisfaction over the advancement in minimally invasive surgery in Pakistan.
The second-day of the event began with Video Conferencing on Recent Advances in Management of Cardiac Diseases. The session involved talks from eminent cardiologists from India and USA including Dr. Mirza Ahmed, who is Director of Georgia Heart Institute. He elaborated on newer and safer methodologies for the treatment of coronary artery disease. The panel included Dr. Faisal Ahmed and Dr. Rizwan Memon form Liaquat National Hospital. The speakers agreed that angioplasty is a safe and equivalent alternate to bypass surgery.
The Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology organized a workshop on Stress incontinence and a seminar on Women’s health.
The Workshop on “Stress Incontinence” was organized by Assistant Prof. Dr. Shagufta Tahir, Consultant Obstetrician /Gynecologist amd Prof. Aziz Abdullah Consultant Urologist. It was attended by more than 50 doctors including consultants, senior registrars, residents and general practitioner. Prof. Hassan Fatima was chief guest and chair person and co-chaired by Assistant Prof. Dr.Shagufta Tahir.
The workshop agenda included 4 lectures on different aspects of the topic followed by clinical discussion on scenarios and concluding remarks by chief guest.
The welcome address was given by Prof. Haleema Hashmi, Head of Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, LNH. Speakers including Dr. Ishrat Saleem, Prof. Haleema Hashmi, Prof. Aziz Abdullah and Prof. Dr. Shagufta Tahir covered all aspects of the topic adequately.
A seminar on “Women’s Health Issues” was also organized at Convention center in which 10 presentations and lectures by speakers from different disciplines of LNH presented. This seminar was attended by more than 150 doctors including consultants, senior registrars, residents & general practitioners.
The welcome address and introduction of the seminar was delivered by Prof. Haleema Hashmi. Dr. Salma Batool, Consultant Obstetrician Gynecologist LNH, Dr. Rufina Soomro, Head of surgical department LNH, having special interest and experience in breast diseases, Assistant Prof. Dr. Shagufta Tahir (Obst/ Gyne LNH), Dr. Shahnaz Hussaini Consultant Obstetrician& Gynecologist, Assistant Prof. Dr. Zehra Naqvi (OB/GYN), Dr. Ayesha Nasir, Secratory of Society of Obstetrics & Gynecology Pakistan, Dr. Ayesha Qureshi, Head of Psychiatric Department, Assistant Prof. Dr. Khalid Imam, Consultant Endocrinologist & Assistant Prof. Dr. Lubna Kamani, Consultant Gastro-Enterologist talked about different aspects of women’s health issues.
The session was chaired by Prof. Dr. Khuro- Sultana, Senior consultant OB/Gynecologist LNH. The concluding remarks Dr. Shahnaz Hussaini, Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist.
A free paper session was organized in which ten research articles were included. It was chaired by Prof. Dr. Nussarat H. Khan and Co- Chaired by Assistant Prof. Dr. Zehra Naqvi.
A Survey on frequency, risk factors and awareness of urinary incontinence was presented by Dr. Shagufta Tahir Assistant Professor LNH. Papers presented by Dr. Saveeta Thontia, Uzma Shabab residents at LNH. Papers from other hospitals in Karachi & Hyderabad were also included.
A session was also organized on the theme of symposium and discussion on the rising rate of cesarean section was initiated by Prof. Dr. Haleema Hashmi. Data from different govt. & private tertiary care Hospitals of Pakistan was collected & presented by Dr. Sumaira Naz, Senior registrar.
The Banquet dinner was arranged which started with a welcome address by the Medical Director, Dr Salman Faridi, and was followed by Award Ceremony. Awards were distributed among school children participating and winning the Poster Competition, major sponsors of the symposium, symposium secretariat staff, faculty with more than 15 years of service at LNH, and international papers by medical students, residents and paramedical staff.
“Best Teacher Awards” for LNMC based on students’ evaluation were awarded to Prof. Javed Altaf Baig of Biochemistry and Dr. Tabassum Zehra of Pharmacology Department. In addition, “Life Time Achievement Awards” for their services at LNH were awarded to late Dr. A. Z. Rehman and M. Samiullah Baig. Final event of the evening was a play by Imran Aslam – a satire on the current political situation of Pakistan.
The third and last day of the event started with a Plenary Session on “Stem Cell in Clinical Practice”. Dr. SM Irfan, Hematologist and the backbone behind the upcoming stem cell program at Liaquat National Hospital, introduced the Chairperson Dr. Tahir Shamsi and the guest speaker Dr. Qasim Mehdi from SIUT. This was followed by a Debate on “Health Care Dilemma – Cost & Quality”. Eminent Advocate, Qadir Sayed was the chairman and the panelist included Prof. Saeed Qurieshy, Ms. Taayeba Ahed, Dr. Khalid Iqbal and Omer Shaikh. Dr Ali Arsalan was the moderator of the session.
The event provided a platform to further strengthen the relationship between LNH and its suppliers and vendors, while opening new avenues for them to work together.
The speakers not only form LNH but also from other well-known hospitals of the country and abroad said that the symposium was an excellent event to keep healthcare professionals updated about the latest developments in the health sector. This is especially true in the wake of present scenario in which travel to west for junior trainees has become very difficult, if not impossible.
Earlier, pre-event workshops were conducted which comprised of Anesthesia – CSE Cardio Thoracic – ECG/TABP, Dental Implants, Dermatology – Cosmetology, General Surgery Laparoscopic Course, Live Video, General Surgery Staple Anastomosis GI Endoscopy, Hematology – Diagnosis of Acute Leukemia, Live Endoscopy (GIT), Microbiology – Quality Assurance , Neurological Assessment & Treatment in Physiotherapy, Neurosurgery – Cadaver Skull Base, Neurosurgery Live Skull Base Endoscopic Surgery, Non Invasive ventilation Spirometry (Chest), Obstetrics & Gynecology – Medical Education, Obstetrics & Gynecology – Urogynaecology, Obstetrics & Gynecology -Women Health, Ophthalmology – Laser Indirect, Orthopedics – Cadaveric Total Knee Replacement, Pediatrics – Development Screening, Plastic Surgery- Botox, Skill’s Lab- BLS.