UHS Approves Four New PhD Curricula

The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has made participation in at least three national and one international conference or seminar mandatory for PhD scholars before they can receive their doctoral degrees.

The new requirement was approved during the 227th meeting of the Advanced Studies and Research Board (ASRB), chaired by UHS Vice Chancellor Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore, as part of efforts to strengthen research quality and postgraduate education.

The board also approved new competency based curricula for PhD in Medical Education, PhD in Nursing, PhD in Oral Biology, and PhD in Public Health. In addition, it approved a revised Master of Health Professions Education (MHPE) program and the Certificate in Comprehensive Family Medicine Practice and Emergency Care (CCFP-EC).

The newly approved PhD Nursing curriculum, developed under the NURTURE Framework, focuses on clinical leadership, research, teaching, health policy, and professional ethics. It includes 500 hours of clinical residency, 200 hours of teaching residency, competency based training, and mandatory life saving skills workshops.

The PhD Public Health curriculum emphasizes disease prevention, health promotion, stronger health systems, implementation science, community based research, and the use of artificial intelligence in public health.

Meanwhile, the PhD Oral Biology program covers advanced fields such as craniofacial developmental biology, regenerative dentistry, stem cells, biomaterials, dental forensic sciences, oral microbiology, and oral immunology.

The six month CCFP-EC program aims to improve the clinical skills of general practitioners through blended learning, clinical attachments, emergency care training, and mandatory life saving skills workshops aligned with World Health Organization recommendations for primary healthcare.