Aga Khan University

Region: Karachi Country: Pakistan

About The University
Aga Khan University Medical College (AKU-MC) was established in 1983 and enrols students in a five-year programme leading to the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree. It has to date conferred 1,370 degrees. The educational offerings in medicine range from a five-year bachelor's degree to a number of clinical postgraduate residencies.

In the academic year 1996-97, Aga Khan University (AKU) introduced a master's degree programme in Epidemiology and a joint programme in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. To date 57 students have graduated from these two programmes. In 1999, a PhD programme in Health Sciences was introduced. Course work and independent research form an integral part of graduate studies. In October 2000, AKU introduced a Master's programme in Health Policy and Management. This programme is designed to train professionals in strategic and operational planning, policy analysis, institutional management and in health systems research and development. In 2002, the first batch of three graduates from this programme received their degrees.

The curricular objectives of AKU-MC include clinical competence both in community settings and hospitals, as well as the assessment of health and prevention of disease in communities through the primary health care programmes that AKU monitors in a number of urban squatter settlements. Agreements with leading academic institutions, including Harvard University in the United States, McGill and McMaster Universities in Canada and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, have contributed to faculty and curriculum development. Recent affiliations are with the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and University of Alabama, USA. These partnerships enable higher training and research, specifically in areas where such opportunities are not available in Pakistan.

Dean's Message
I am pleased to welcome you to Aga Khan University Medical College (AKU-MC) website. The Medical College, which commenced its operation in 1983, is an academic unit of the Faculty of Health Sciences, alongside the School of Nursing. In the Medical College, in addition to the MBBS degree in Medicine, we offer an MSc in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and an MSc in Health Policy and Management, both centred in the Department of Community Health Sciences. We also offer a PhD in Health Sciences, a multi-disciplinary programme with a focus on the basic sciences. We have an extensive Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) programme comprised currently of 20 residency and nine Fellowship programmes in clinical disciplines. In addition, PGME programmes are offered in East Africa.

Our faculty members are devoted to the highest standard of education, scholarship, research, and patient care. Research in all our academic units continue to take on increasing importance and we are competitive internationally in a number of research areas.

We are proud of the great strides and advances that the faculty has made over the past two decades. We anticipate continued growth and greater accomplishments in all our endeavours.

If you are wondering what Aga Khan University is all about, come meet our students and staff at AKU Open House sessions in your city.

This is an Open House with a difference. Not only will we provide candidates with information about the undergraduate and graduate programmes at AKU, but we will also hold a special workshop on Preparing for AKU Admission Test. There will also be opportunities for individual counselling sessions.

We will be holding Open Houses across the country, in Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi and Hyderabad. Special gifts will be given to all those candidates who register themselves at least three days earlier to the event, which they intend to attend.

Aga Khan University Hospitals
Aga Khan University Hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan and Nairobi, Kenya are philanthropic, not-for-profit, private institutions providing high quality health care. Meeting the highest internationally recognised quality standards in health care, the Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya holds ISO 9001:2000 certification and the Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan holds ISO 9001:2008 certification. The Hospital in Karachi has also been awarded the prestigious Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation.

Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and internationally trained health care professionals, the Hospitals also serve as the principal site for clinical training for the University's Medical College and School of Nursing in Pakistan and East Africa.Indigent patients who visit the Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan can receive financial assistance from the Patient Welfare Programme and zakat assistance from the Patients' Behbud Society. Recently the four Aga Khan Health Service Hospitals located in Karachi and Hyderabad have been integrated with Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.

Institutes for Educational Development
Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development, based in Pakistan and East Africa, was established with a mandate to improve teacher education in the developing world. The Institute aim to contribute to socio-economic development by improving the quality of education through human resource development, institutional capacity building, policy analysis and research.

To achieve these objectives, the Institute conducts training and offers a variety of academic programmes for in-service teachers, teacher educators and education managers, both from the public and private sectors. The various research projects that the Institute is conducting have influenced policies for education and practice in Pakistan and East Africa.

Aga Khan University
Chartered in 1983 as a private international university, Aga Khan University (AKU) is a self-governing institution currently operating in eight countries. The University is part of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of private international development agencies working to improve living conditions and opportunities in the developing world through social, economic and cultural development. Like all Network institutions, the University is non-denominational and admission to its academic programmes is based strictly on merit.

With 11 teaching sites spread over eight countries - Afghanistan, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Syria, Egypt and the United Kingdom, AKU serves as an agent of change: developing skills and providing career advancement opportunities through programmes offered by its Medical College, School of Nursing, teaching hospitals, Institute for Educational Development and Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations. Future plans for AKU include an Institute of Human Development and a Faculty of Arts and Sciences with a curriculum based on a liberal arts model of undergraduate and postgraduate education.

Need for the creation of the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC)

In 1994, the a distinguished group of international academics, reviewed several major higher education studies focused on countries with Muslim populations. The studies included those undertaken during the preceding decade by the Harvard Committee, the Institute for International Education and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation The subsequent analysis led the Commission to assert that there was an urgent need to strengthen institutions that were able to adopt the norms and techniques of modern scholarship without losing sight of the lived and historical experiences of Muslims struggling to resolve contemporary challenges. Such institutions, the Commission felt, would have to endeavour to create a language of scholarship that would avoid two faults: first, the transmission of knowledge about Islam in ways that are oblivious to the deep changes brought about by modernisation, and second, a reductionist approach to religious traditions found in some Western institutions.

The Commission concluded that Aga Khan University (AKU), an institution of higher learning with its main campus in a region with a majority Muslim population, was uniquely placed to address the challenges faced by Muslims today. It felt that AKU could achieve this objective through the establishment of an institute devoted to the study of Muslim civilisations, aiming to produce research and writings that would serve to bring an enlightened understanding of the heritage of Muslims and its contemporary relevance, and to contribute to the development of societies in which Muslims live.

AKU-ISMC believes it can make a distinct contribution to the understanding of Muslim societies and the emergence of new attitudes among Muslims and non-Muslims toward the concerns of contemporary societies. AKU-ISMC aims to study and raise awareness of the most serious issues faced by Muslim societies today. In doing so, it is aware of the difficulties. The Task Force involved in setting up AKU-ISMC recognised that, "salvation will not be found without the clarity and sanity of the enlightened and disciplined minds that university education at its best can give to the Muslim world".