The Patan Academy of Health Sciences
Member profile
The Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS) is an autonomous, not-for-profit public institution of higher education. Currently, most medical schools in Nepal are for-profit, and medical education is very traditional. Medical schools do not adequately emphasize the health care challenges of Nepal, nor provide students with a feeling of social responsibility to improve health care for disadvantaged populations. In contrast, PAHS employs highly innovative strategies in several areas to encourage its graduates to work to improve the health status of the rural poor. It addresses a root cause of the conflict that devastated Nepal for the last decade. Reducing the divide between the urban and rural populations will provide a basis for lasting peace.
Main activities
To supplement the core training in Patan Hospital, PAHS students are assigned to clinical postings at rural hospitals and health care centers throughout the diverse ethnic landscape of Nepal, with an emphasis on regions with disadvantaged populations. Students from rural areas are strongly encouraged to apply to and enroll in PAHS. Since research has shown that doctors’ backgrounds are an important factor in determining where they practice medicine, this will increase the likelihood of PAHS graduates practicing in remote areas. PAHS is implementing a highly progressive curriculum, modeled after modern curricula used by a growing number of Western medical schools. A number of conferences and workshops have been held to foster development. These meetings are collaborative efforts between supporters of PAHS from Nepal and from other countries throughout the world.
Links to the health workforce crisis
PAHS is dedicated to sustained improvement of the health of the people in Nepal, through innovation, equity, excellence and love in education, service and research. Its goals are to:
- Train technically competent and caring health care professionals.
- Sustain and upgrade the quality of the current health services of the PAHS related hospitals preserving traditions.
- Undertake clinical, public health and biomedical research.
- Work in collaboration with the national health system (NHS) to contribute to the improvement of the health status of the people.
Call for knowledge information:
Alliance Members are invited to submit any relevant knowledge products such as documents, reports, tools, multimedia, links to specific project web sites by sending an email to ghwa@who.int. The Alliance Secretariat will publish relevant products on the Member's page.
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