Fatima Memorial System 5.79

Committed to excel, educate, train and inspire young people in the science and compassion of healing and health, Fatima Memorial’s inception as a teaching hospital in 1977, continues to provide opportunities to aspiring students from across Pakistan, to learn the discipline and indeed spirit of medicine and the health sciences, along international standards. Indeed as a pioneer in healthcare resource and development, Fatima Memorial established its education system the very year it was inaugurated as a hospital with the introduction of the FMH School of Midwifery (1977), with a vision to equip local mid wives with professional know how, soon followed by the FMH Nursing School (1978) training professionals in the compassion and science of patient care.

Now in partnership with the credible NUR Foundation since 2006, the system provides world class medical facilities, with a passionate and trained team of over 1700. Indeed the NUR / Fatima Memorial System has continued to extend its expertise further within the medical realm through the inauguration of a Post Graduate Training Centre (1996), the FMH College of Medicine (2000), FMH College of Dentistry (2001) and more recently the FMH Institute of Allied Health Sciences (2006). The NUR / Fatima Memorial Systems’ sustained commitment to medical training and development is further manifested in its establishment of a Health Research Centre (2005) which leads to important medical research activity; followed by the Nur Centre for Research & consulting (2008).

Today, the Saida Waheed FMH College of Nursing, (2007) is the largest nursing educational facility in Asia, offering a range of nursing programs and aspiring to launch pioneering initiatives in the near future. It provides a platform for recognising and bringing together a variety of stakeholders on advocacy and policy forums influencing the practice of healthcare professionals. The Specialist Care Centre is a state of the art outpatient unit that is fully equipped with advanced medical technology. Indeed through their technical expertise in healthcare and medicine combined with an ethos of compassionate education, Fatima Memorial and the NUR Foundation have set quality benchmarks across Pakistan, achieving 7 University position in MBBS, 290 University distinctions in MBBS, 25 University positions in BDS, 124 University distinctions in BDS, 26 University Positions in AHS & 84 University distinctions in AHS to name a few. Students from Azad Kashmir, Layyah, Shorkot Cantt, Okara, Hafizabad, Nain Sukh, Talwara, Gajumatta, Lakhodair, Kharak Sabzara, Peer Naseer, Malik Pur, Habit Mastui, DG Khan are all part of the systems’ academic institutions’ esteemed alumni.

Indeed the colleges offer quality educational conveniences which include access to teaching facilities comprising of 560 beds at the Fatima Memorial Hospital and the Khair un Nisa Hospital (KNH), a library, state of the art laboratories and a medical museum. In addition to their medical prowess, the colleges are equally renowned for encouraging their student community at large to be an active part of society, inculcating a sense of social responsibility through their coveted Student Leadership Program, which first started in 1995. Each year their programme offers over 250 students, the experience of working with some of Pakistan’s most deprived communities thus endeavouring to build bridges between the educated and the less aware and also instil in such students the desire to work towards a brighter future for the country. Indeed through this programme, NUR Foundation and Fatima Memorial provide opportunities for young interns to connect with the mind, body and spirit of compassion and discipline, by encouraging a leading role in the development of a lesser fortunate community.

In keeping with Fatima Memorial’s institutionalised belief in working with a social conscience, the Community Outreach Program was launched in 1985 and is currently managed by the esteemed NUR Foundation, FMS’s partner. The NUR Foundations’ very ethos is set in a belief to act as catalysts and managers of change to bring about social and economic development of underserved communities, through healthcare, education and economic empowerment. Thus, through this programme, the NUR / FMS partnership strives to expand its reach across Pakistan by giving back to the community and inspiring social change through integrated community development in healthcare with initiatives such as the Primary Healthcare Service, Traditional Medicine/Unani Dawakhana and Specialized Medical Services in Gynecology & Pediatrics. In Education the NUR / FMS partnership has been responsible for the Non-formal Basic Literary Program, Formal Primary School Program and Teacher Training and Staff Development. With a belief that health and education can only move forward with economic empowerment and through skill development, vocational training and microfinance, the NUR foundation endeavours to provide communities a chance to enhance their social well-being through informed policy and reformed practice. To this end and in association with the Vocational Training Institute of the Punjab Government, the Community Outreach programmme aids skill development and vocational training [i.e. cutting, stitching and beautician programmes for women; Industrial Electricians, AC & Refrigeration mechanics, Plumbing and Carpentering for men]. The NUR / FMH partnership with micro financiers Akhuwat has also enabled the programme to socially and economically empower marginalised families through interest free microfinance and by harnessing entrepreneurial potential, capacity building and social guidance.

Indeed it is through the Community Outreach Program that entire communities have been encouraged to support the grass root population with the vocational skill and education necessary in order to improve their quality of life and economic empowerment in all spheres within their own community.

In essence, serving humanity has been the mission of the NUR Foundation/ Fatima Memorial System Partnership since its very inception, where proceeds are ploughed back towards the running and development of the institutions it has nurtured and built, as well as towards a scholarship endowment fund for deserving students and the care of underprivileged patients at Fatima Memorial Hospital. Indeed their institutional mission continues to bring together a diverse team of dedicated professionals, the best in the fields, to lead the system as a seat of higher learning and equally, as a model of good institutional management and governance.