What led to your decision to return to Pakistan and serve in the field of pediatric heart disease?
Pediatric heart surgery has been my passion since I first entered the field of medicine. I had witnessed my share of very ill children during my studies and training, and many were due to congenital heart conditions. My love for children had already spurred me to follow the path of pediatrics but seeing the prevalence of heart diseases in the country made me turn to pediatric heart surgery. It is also my main reason for returning to Pakistan; in 2003, a little girl traveled from Pakistan to India for her own heart disease due to the lack of facilities in Pakistan. This story went viral and raised an awareness in Pakistan, and I wanted to help take this awareness further throughout the country.
What is something about pediatric cardiac surgery and congenital heart disease that our readers should know about? Beyond surgery, are you engaged in research or other academic work?
I believe the readers should be especially aware of how 80% of congenital heart diseases are reparable and do not require any further surgeries after the first one. I have seen many families worry about more surgeries in the future as their child grows, but that is far from the truth. Following surgical repair of a heart defect, be it an ASD, VSD, TOF, children live very normal and healthy lives from a cardiologist’s point of view. As I am working in a teaching hospital, as Professor and head of department, I am involved in teaching and research, data always needs to be updated, and it helps us greatly to know if there are ways to better outcomes and the children’s quality of life. Now that our fellowship program has also been approved from CPSP and UHS, we will be able to train fellows in this growing field.
In your vast experience, what are the most pressing healthcare needs of our people? Where are we, as a healthcare community, doing well and where do we need more effort and investment?
The most pressing need is awareness and availability of treatment. Awareness, education and availability of centers, save more lives, reduce delays in presentations of cases, and improve their outcomes. As a healthcare community, Alhamdulillah in Pakistan we have now 20 plus centers
that provide congenital cardiac care and treatment for pediatric heart diseases, but again, in a 240 million population, the disease burden is huge. We need more awareness to spread this care to the more remote parts of the country. Also, as the treatment of congenital heart disease is expensive and most parents cannot afford it, we need philanthropic support mechanism to help poor patients.
From your time at AKU, do you have a favorite moment, anecdote or incident that is etched in your memory? How would you describe that journey?
My journey has been a fun one, put shortly. It has been grueling, punishing, exhausting, but fun, exciting, and very rewarding. Even now I still enjoy going to the operating theater at my age, motivated to tackle the next case. I thank my time in AKU especially for this. When I joined the residency program in AKU, I did not have any surgical experience, and AKU was my first step into surgery. My favorite moments would be Dr Mushtaq’s punishments. He would always tell me “Kiya kar rhe ho Miaa?” or “You do not think Asim”, and while they embarrassed us, they were very constructive in nature. The improvements I made after these scoldings make the foundation of my training now.
If you had a time machine, which period of your journey as a healthcare professional would you like to revisit, and why? Would you change anything about that time?
If I had a time machine, I would go back to my general surgery residency in AKU. Again, this was my first step into surgery from the life of a physician, and it was an exciting time. I learned so much, not just surgery but also professionalism and leadership, and made me so confident in my career after what I went through in that time. I would not change that for anything. It has been an integral part in making me who I am today as a surgeon.
Past Alumni Spotlight
Dr Philomena Drago
Dr Bashir Hanif
Dr Sehreen Khan
Dr Naila Baig-Ansari
