LAHORE - The Saudi Council for Health Specialities has recognised postgraduate degrees of two public sector medical universities in seven specialities, paving way for aspirant consultants to earn their livelihood in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Besides giving opportunities to fresh postgraduates, the development will enable the degree holders already working there to upgrade their status as consultants.

As per the documents available with The Nation, the Saudi Council for Health Specialities (SCHS) has recognised and accredited Master of Surgery (MS) in Orthopaedic, Anaesthesia, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Gastroenterology and Dermatology, and Clinical Fellowship in Paediatric Ophthalmology, which are being offered by the King Edward Medical University (KEMU).

Similarly, the SCHS has also accorded accreditation to Master of Maternal and Child Health programme offered by the University of Health Sciences (UHS). Though all public sector medical universities running postgraduate programmes had approached the SCHS for recognition of degrees, the KSA authority has given its nod only to the KEMU and UHS.

Also, the KEMU has approached the SCHS to recognise its degrees of the remaining programmes. The university’s Registrar Dr Riasat Ali has shown his gratitude to the SCHS for giving preference to one of the oldest medical institutions of the country. “We are actively pursuing the case and hopefully most of our programmes will be recognised in the coming edition,” said the KEMU registrar.

The race to get the recognition of postgraduate degrees started among medical universities of Pakistan on misleading reports of the sacking of doctors following the de-accreditation of the MS/MD programmes by the KSA and the Middle East countries about a year back.

It was later revealed that the MS/MD programmes were never accredited by the SCHS, and there was no question of de-accreditation.

Noting the absence of MS/MD in the regulations and inability of degree holders to get themselves registered as consultants, the vice-chancellors of KEMU, UHS and other universities approached SCHS with the request to include their programmes in the next edition.

So, the false reports and hue and cry on social media proved a blessing in disguise for the medical universities approaching the SCHS for getting their postgraduate programmes recognised and accredited. Similar requests were forwarded to the authorities in the UAE and other countries, anticipating a positive response.