Aga Khan University (AKU) partnered with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) to host the MRCS examination for the first time at AKU's premises. Founded in 1983 as Pakistan's first private university, AKU is a not-for-profit institution and an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network. Starting in 2000, the University expanded to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Afghanistan, and the United Kingdom.
The foundation for the MRCS examination to be held in Karachi was laid a year earlier when Mr. Zahid Raza visited AKU and met Dr. Muhammad Rizwan Khan, who is the Professor of Surgery and Associate Dean of Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) at AKU and the International Surgical Advisor to the College. This led to further collaborations, and the examination was finally held on September 13-14, 2023, at the Centre for Innovation in Medical Education (CIME), Karachi, Pakistan. A total of 82 candidates took the examination in Karachi.
MRCS is a prestigious intercollegiate examination for aspiring surgeons held in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and overseas. It is designed to test the knowledge and skills of surgical trainees in the generality part of specialty training. The MRCS exam tested candidates' knowledge of anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, and clinical skills, such as history taking, physical examination, and basic surgical procedures.
CIME at AKU is a world-class facility housing purpose-built teaching-learning and assessment spaces, as well as an extensive array of high-fidelity mannequins. CIME aims to transform healthcare education through partnerships and by raising expectations of what is possible in education, innovation, and learning through technology. Mr. Zahid Raza and Professor Peter McCollum were the examination conveners, along with a number of college examiners, all of whom had a great time conducting the examination at AKU Karachi and were thoroughly impressed by the facilities available at CIME.
AKU is always looking to form partnerships with international leaders in healthcare education. This close partnership between AKU's PGME and CIME, and RCSEd, is a testament to the organization's commitment to providing high-quality education and training to surgeons from across Pakistan. The university believes that this partnership will help improve the quality of surgical education and training in Pakistan and will ultimately benefit patients and aspiring trainees.
