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THE AGA KHAN
UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY December 2019
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Dean’s
Communiqué | Edition 09 
Photograph ©
Awais Rehman
Dear
faculty, staff, alumni, students and friends of SONAM!
Another
wonderful year has almost come to an end. I am extremely proud of my
colleagues here at SONAM for being the excellent mentors and graduating a
very competent group of future nurses.
You are
aware that I am now relocating back to Australia however, I will be
continuing my work part-time with AKU based in Australia. As I handover the
deanship to my colleague Dr Rozina Karmaliani, I would like to congratulate
her and wish her the best. I am certain that the School will continue to grow
by leaps and bounds under her able leadership.
In this
edition, I would like to update you all on our progress in the past couple of
months and the remarkable achievements of our AKU family.
Kind regards,
David
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PAKISTAN
NURSING COUNCIL
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Successful meetings with PNC officials
This month, SONAM
leadership along with the Vice Provost Anjum Halai and our colleagues from
the Office of the Registrar met with the officials of the Pakistan Nursing
Council, PNC, and had a fruitful discussion on the School’s academic
programmes with the Council’s recently appointed President Afshan
Nazly.
Inspectors from
PNC also visited the School to look at the infrastructure, review the
curriculum and assess students’ satisfaction. The officials were delighted to
see the classrooms and various other facilities in the School as well as in
the Hospital. We had also put forth our requests about increasing enrolment
at the graduate level and introducing specialty courses, and we were assured
that these would be strongly recommended to the PNC committee for necessary
approvals.
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EDUCATING
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS
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e-Learning
Resource for Midwives
In a first, and as part of continuing professional
education for midwives, our faculty Arusa Lakhani and Marina Baig have
co-authored an e-book for practising midwives and midwifery students in
collaboration with a multidisciplinary team from the McMaster University and
the Grand Challenges Canada, a funding agency by the government of Canada.
“Woman-Centered Reproductive
Health Care” is an e-learning resource for midwives and lady health visitors
in Pakistan that aims to contribute to the knowledge base and help build
competencies in reproductive healthcare using evidence-based content in local
context. Download the book >>
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 Raising
Awareness
on
Dementia and Elderly Care
Our geriatrics and gerontology clinical stream head, Samina Vertejee,
collaborated with WHO in an attempt to dispel the misconceptions around
dementia and the stereotypes about ageing. They have prepared a brochure
elaborating on the early signs and symptoms of dementia and other related
information about ageing. I am glad that this material is available in both
the languages, English and Urdu, for better awareness about the care of older
people with dementia. Read the brochure here >>
Samina, along with our medical college colleague, Dr Saniya Sabzwari,
also talked to Dawn on the subject and how the stereotypes about ageing are hindering
the efforts to improve older people’s quality of life. Watch the
episode here >>
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STUDENTS’
INITIATIVE
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Innovating for Better Healthcare Outcomes
I am impressed seeing how our students are beaming with some amazing
entrepreneurial ideas and their mentors at AKU are helping materialise them.
A group of five students have got together to devise solution to overcome the
language barrier doctors and patients face. Find out how they are trying to bridge
doctor-patient communication gaps.
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ALUMNI
REUNIONS
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Sydney |
Melbourne | Lahore
Recently,
I have had the pleasure of meeting with some amazing groups of alumni in
Pakistan and Australia/New Zealand with whom I have discussed several new
ideas to collaborate on with the School. As I move to Australia, I plan to
connect with them to take those ideas forward.
It was
an absolute pleasure to meet and celebrate their accomplishments together
with them, a lot of whom have become stars in their fields. I was also deeply
touched to see the willingness our alumni had to offer support and expertise
to the School enabling us to enhance our programmes and other academic and clinical
initiatives.
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FACULTY
ACHIEVEMENTS
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Shireen
Shehzad
at
the Sexual
Violence Research Initiative forum,
South Africa
Last month,
Shireen had a chance to participate in the SVRI forum. She was the only
Pakistani among 50 awardees around the world who had received full bursary.
As she connected with impressive researchers, funders, policymakers and
academicians, she also did an elevator speech on the Right To Play
study as well as facilitated a Speed Networking event.
Way to go, Shireen!
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WORKSHOPS
AND COURSES
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Certificate Course
In Geriatrics
FACILITATED BY
UCSF
Our team has collaborated with the University of California, San
Francisco and is conducting a 6-week certificate course on strengthening
capacity in managing old patients in hospital and community settings.
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Data Management & Analysis Workshop
USING SPPS
SOFTWARE
Another hands-on workshop was held this month for students,
researchers and healthcare practitioners in which participants were trained
on SPSS to conduct a variety of tests, perform data management and handling.
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Reviving the role of
palliative nurses
END OF LIFE
WORKSHOP SERIES
Our palliative care experts will also be conducting a workshop in the
upcoming week for palliative care nurses on how to effectively care for
patients facing life-threatening illnesses and help improve
the quality of life of patients and
their families.
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National Health Sciences Research Symposium
Pre-Symposium
Workshop
As part of the Symposium, SONAM, in collaboration
with the Outreach & Research Lab, Department of Paediatrics, conducted a
pre-symposium workshop on “reducing multi drug resistance
(MDR) infections”,
which was attended by a large number of healthcare
professionals and students from within and outside of AKUH.
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Manuscript Writing Workshop
For beginners
Our research experts will also be conducting a hands-on workshop in
December focusing on enhancing the participants’ understanding of converting
a research into a manuscript, which will come in handy for beginner
researchers.
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FROM
THE ARCHIVES
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Farida
Shah | Improving midwifery education and practice in Pakistan
Video>>
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Khairulnissa
Ajani | Raising Nursing education standards in Pakistan
Video>>
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We would be happy to
receive your comments and feedback.
Please write to us
at sonam.pk@aku.edu
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