Abdalians Alumni Home

Monday, 12 November 2012 21:15

Dr Shoaib Shafi is one of those academics who try their best to deliver the maximum knowledge wherever they go. He enjoys a teaching experience of more than 25 years during which he has also been trying to provide  relief to the ailing humanity.

The professor of medicine at the Rawalpindi Medical College as well as the head of the medical unit at the Rawalpindi General Hospital, Dr Shafi graduated from King Edward Medical College, Lahore, in 1982. He is also a fellow of Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh; Royal College of Physicians, Ireland; Royal College of Physicians London and Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Soft spoken and affable, he has dedicated his life to the profession of medicine and has written scores of research papers for national and international journals as well as made presentations at many international conferences.

“I started my career in the Medicine Department at King Edward Medical College in 1982. I passed my FCPS in 1987 after which I was appointed assistant professor of medicine. I have been teaching undergraduate and postgraduate medical students since then. I am responsible for indoor patients and rotations in different specialties of medicine like Intensive Care, Oncology, Neurology, Gastroenterology, Asthma, etc. I perform liver biopsy once a week and daily upper GI Endoscopy. I am also in charge of the Diabetic Centre at the Rawalpindi General Hospital where we cater to nearly 125 patients daily on OPD basis.”

The professor is also the vice president of  the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan and during his tenure here he has worked hard to introduce new specialties like Critical Care Medicine, Infectious Disease, Emergency Medicine and many others. He is spot on when he talks about the importance of the Emergency Medicine Department. According to him, “By setting up a fully-equipped Emergency Medicine Department at all the hospitals we can reduce the number of deaths during emergencies.

“For this,” he adds, “we must also try to equip our district-level hospitals so that they can effectively handle the emergency patients. He is also very concerned about the high rate of hepatitis prevalent in Rawalpindi district. “Nearly seven per cent of the total population of Rawalpindi is afflicted with hepatitis. The ratio is high as compared to the other districts. The drinking water is the major problem here as it is contaminated. We offer free treatment to the patients of hepatitis at the hospital,” Dr Shafi informs.

He also stresses the point that we must train our nurses and other para medical staff and there should be regular training sessions for them. He regularly teaches and trains staff nurses and those who are specializing in Medicine and Endoscopy.

The teaching doctor also holds a mortality conference daily. “Everyday we hold a morning conference to discuss the emergency admissions and mortalities in the previous 24 hours. A composite report of the whole week is presented by a registrar and is discussed in the presence of the entire faculty. Then there is a regular clinical audit, which we hold once a month. This audit has enabled us to modify various treatment modalities and improve the morbidity and mortality especially in cerebral malaria, hepatic encephalopathy and tuberculosis.”

There are many other activities related to his profession in which he takes a deep interest. He likes to share his vast knowledge and expertise especially with the doctors of far-flung areas. “As a doctor it is my prime duty to go to the interior districts of my country to train the doctors and medical staff there. I deliver lectures, hold seminars and workshops for the training of general medical practitioners and mid-level specialists in Rawalpindi as well as other distant areas of the province. I also share my original research papers at various forums for the benefit of the young doctors. Besides this I serve as a facilitator at educational programmes for medicine in training modules and workshops.” He encourages extracurricular activities among the students as he himself enjoys riding, hiking and mountaineering being a former member of such teams during his college days at the Cadet College Hassan Abdal.

Dr Shafi is also the moving spirit behind the Pakistan Green Task Force, working for awareness among the masses about environmental issues. Made up of doctors and medical students mostly, the organisation has  planted nearly 100,000 trees in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. “For the last 11 years we are organising a hike over the Margalla Hills called ‘Save your liver hike’. Doctors as well as the general public participate in the walk and literature about liver diseases is also distributed.”

By Altaf Hussain Asad | From InpaperMagzine/DAWN

(Dr. Shoaib Shafi is from the 17th Entry (Iqbal Wing) and President of Hasanabdal Old Boys Association)