The first-ever Surgical Skills Laboratory (SSL) will be set up at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). Apart from donations by health practitioners from across the globe, the Edhi Foundation has pledged to donate Rs30 million for this noble cause and the laboratory would be called the Abdul Sattar Edhi Higher Surgical Skill Laboratory.
The announcement was made during the fifth Rhinocon conference held in Islamabad. The two-day conference, which concluded on Sunday, was attended by more than 800 delegates who benefited from the lectures, presentations and panel discussions leading to consensus building and symposium. Panel discussions were conducted by renowned ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeons from Pakistan, Malaysia and the United Kingdom.First-ever surgical skills lab , During the conference, a training course was also held for which the Edhi Foundation provided 10 bodies, which were brought from Karachi and sent back after completion of the course. The conference was inaugurated by Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed. Highlights of the conference included the announcement of establishment of the Abdul Sattar Edhi surgical skills lab at Pims in collaboration with Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Foundation. Addition of international and national adjunct faculty to the ENT and head and neck surgery department of Pims was also announced. Prof Dr Altaf Hussain presented details of the new laboratory. The inauguration session concluded with remarks from Dr Jawwad Ahmad, general secretary of the organising committee.
The inaugural session was attended by some of the biggest names in national academia including Prof Mohammad Mujeeb, vice chancellor of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University Prof Tanvir Khaliq, director of Pims Dr Khalid Masood, dean of Pims Dr Rizwan Taj, secretary to Ministry of Health Services Mirza Nasiruddin Mashood, and senior ENT surgeons from the country. First-ever surgical skills lab , Dr Khalid Masood, while talking toDawn, said that Faisal Edhi also attended the event and assured his full support for the cause. He said that 110 doctors attended the two-day training course, adding that the skill laboratory will be used by all departments of the hospital. He said that although this time, the Edhi Foundation had provided bodies for the training but in the future, the hospital would arrange the bodies by itself. When asked about the time needed for completion of the laboratory, Dr Masood said that the project will be built on the mortuary of the hospital and project will be completed in less than two years. “Dr Altaf Hussain completed the course from Malaysia and Rs1.5 million was spent on it. Now, we are going to establish the first ever lab in Pakistan due to which it will become possible to train doctors for surgeries in Pakistan,” he said, adding that along with wet lab, a dry lab will also be established in the hospital. When asked the difference between dry and wet labs, he said that the lab in which real dead bodies were used were called wet labs and the labs in which dummy bodies were used to train doctors and students to pass cannula and other procedures were called dry labs.
Source: This news is originally published by dawn