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Aga Khan University Convocation
Karachi, Pakistan, November 3, 2001
Good evening honorable chief guest, board
of trustees, our parents and families, faculty and my fellow students.
 Asalamo
Alaikum.
I stand here as an AKU graduate of the Class of 2001 to represent
the medical school: the MBBSand the MSc Epidemiology
Programmes.
Today is finally the day we all longed
for. It seems almost like yesterday when we all sat in the
auditorium on Orientation Day 1. Our names were announced and our pictures were taken. But it wasn't
really yesterday, it was a long time ago. A good five years for the medical students
and two years for the MSc students. Perhaps the most important years of our
lives.
Now for the MBBSprogram, let me
start from the beginning...
We started Day 1 with "de tour of AKU": that is, the sights and sounds of AKU. The first striking thing about this
place was the QUAD. The quad is a special place where people meet, climb
trees, sing songs, make important decisions in life, make friends and enemies,
admire the café food and do a number of strange things as well.
Since we were all brimming with enormous amounts of energy we set
great targets for our exams. However, it soon
dawned onto us that it takes quite an effort to actually sit down to study
after receiving welcome parties. Hence, for most of us, it was all right
to pass decently, instead of with honours.
Before every prof., we had this feeling of regret for joining AKU
and at the end of the prof., once everyone was promoted,
the feeling very much went away. This is known as the "prof. syndrome".
The guys of our class suffered so much from it that they actually got
their head shaved in order to end the ordeal.
When second year started and the new first years arrived, perhaps it was
the trauma we suffered during Neuro. term
that made us make our junior class do strange things, like making a guy walk
into the female lockers. (Trust me it did happen!)
The best part was when we started the clinical years. The guys fell
in love with the Micro. Dept and the girls went
for the Neuro. Dept.We became junior doctors who were now
capable of surveying the patients. We learnt the elements of history taking
and crossed all boundaries of being polite to the patient and at times to
a dummy arm.
It felt awesome to wear white starched coats and steths despite the
fact that we were just checking the rate,
rhythm and regularity of a pulse. During this time we also celebrated our
t 1/2 (two and a half years left to accomplish our ultimate goal). The songs sung at
the helipad by the bonfire shall never be forgotten. Perhaps it was the
last time we had fun together as a class.
In 4th year we were divided into numerous small groups. We missed
our friends but we learnt some important lessons: the lesson
of adaptability in Gynae. and ENT; and of tolerance in Paeds. The beginning
of "life" in our hands became very real in Gynae. and we learnt its
true value in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.In final year we progressed from just
surveying the patient to assessment and understanding the treatment. Medicine
taught us our limitations, that is no matter how hard we tried it was
just not possible to learnHarrison's by heart. On the other hand,
Surgery was not just about standing for long hours in the OR
holding a retractor. It also had these thrilling adventures in trauma management and in
the Grand Rounds. During these times we very conveniently suffered from a
number of ailments ranging from tachycardia to complete mutism and amnesia.
In PHC (Primary Health Care) we learnt to look at, listen to and
feel "the patient". We did assignments and homework together. We
even shared punishments: for instance like the last group of PHC...their
enthusiasm led to an extra week of PHC during the prof leave. PHC shall
always be remembered for its halwa paratha nashta. It shall also be
remembered as the time when we were considered as and treated
like proper doctors at Edhi centre - having the power to diagnose and prescribe.
Just like our Electives which proved
to be a wonderful experience, opening our eyes to what we want to do next.And finally came the last prof and the
last hurdle was overcome. But yet this is not the end. We
now have in our hands the ability to treat,or not to treat, the patient
but not yet the confidence to do so. We have yet to reach "higher".
These were the five years of our lives when we were "arrested" in AKU.
But in this "arrest" we were secured and not
bothered about what is coming up next for us. During these past five years we all
grew up from ex-school students to ex- med studs. We must have learnt something.
Our class may not be perfect but we do have Hafiz-e-Quran, a mountain
climber, a website designer and a walking talking
Harrisons.
In another part of the campus, another
group of students had entered AKU to study epidemiology, that vital branch
of medicine concerned with conducting research in order to identify why diseases
occur, whom they affect, and how and why they spread or become common in populations.
Tonight is a very special night not just
for us but also for those four MSc students who are now full fledged epidemiologists.
They achieved via their two-year program a strong technical edge in the field of
public health research. They are now equipped with in-depth knowledge of biostats
and epidemiology, capable of critically identifying public health
issues in developing countries and engaging in scientific research to help decrease
these problems.
So, be it changing the future of Neurosurgery or raising the
level of public health research in Pakistan, by the grace
of Allah, we are ready to face the world and the challenges which await
us.
So thank you Allah, and our teachers,
seniors and all the people at AKU involved in our training, and thank you,
Chancellor and the board of trustees, the founders of AKU.
Finally, this speech would be incomplete if on behalf of the graduating
classes, I did not thank our parents and our families for their
never ending support and belief in us. This day is extra special
because of your presence amongst us. I know there have been many
silent prayers for our success and a sigh of relief that this day
has finally arrived.
So thank you all.
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