[kiran22]

hi,

im irum, from the UK and im going to do an elective at PIMS in paediatrics, in islamabad in july 2009.
i had a few questions, i hope some of you can clear up for me.

1) i know it can get extremely warm in pakistan in the summer, and so do the hospitals and the medical schools provide air conditioning for the public as well as staff?

2) I want to bring my laptop, but im afraid that it might crash if the electricity goes out in pakistan. should i still bring it? or do the medical schools provide computer access?

3) Are women doctors allowed to wear trousers and shirts, instead of shalwar kameez in hospitals?

4) should i bring my own textbooks, or is there an extensive library at PIMS that i can use?

5) Is it still slightly safe to go about islamabad, as many people are scared due to the recent bombing attacks there?

Hope to get some good feedback, thanks.

 

[MedGrunt]

hi,

im irum, from the UK and im going to do an elective at PIMS in paediatrics, in islamabad in july 2009.
i had a few questions, i hope some of you can clear up for me.

1) i know it can get extremely warm in pakistan in the summer, and so do the hospitals and the medical schools provide air conditioning for the public as well as staff?

2) I want to bring my laptop, but im afraid that it might crash if the electricity goes out in pakistan. should i still bring it? or do the medical schools provide computer access?

3) Are women doctors allowed to wear trousers and shirts, instead of shalwar kameez in hospitals?

4) should i bring my own textbooks, or is there an extensive library at PIMS that i can use?

5) Is it still slightly safe to go about islamabad, as many people are scared due to the recent bombing attacks there?

Hope to get some good feedback, thanks.

Welcome to the forum kiran22.

I'm a student in Islamabad and while I don't have much direct experience with PIMS I can help you out with some of your more general questions.

2) You can bring your laptop, plug it into a surge protector when you use it and you won't have to worry about it crashing when the power goes out. It'll just switch over automatically to battery power.

3) Since you'll be in PIMS, which is a government hospital I would highly advise against wearing trousers and pants. They probably don't have any rules against it but you would really stand out at work. Oh and make sure to bring some lab coats with you. I met a couple of student from the UK who were doing electives in Islamabad and they didn't realize that they would need them.

5) I think it's still pretty safe to go out as long as you're a bit cautious. Avoid going to foreign establishments(McDonalds, Pizza Hut, etc.) in general if you can and don't go to the bigger markets(Jinnah & Jinnah Super) on weekend nights when they're more crowded.

 

[Rehan]

1) i know it can get extremely warm in pakistan in the summer, and so do the hospitals and the medical schools provide air conditioning for the public as well as staff?

Most of the wards at PIMS are not air conditioned. You can wear lighter, summer clothing and drink a lot of water. Temperatures can get pretty high in the summer, sometimes reaching around 42-45 degrees Celsius but inside the hospital they will have fans and coolers running usually to keep it cooler than that. But the use of air conditioning is not very widespread at all inside government hospital wards.

4) should i bring my own textbooks, or is there an extensive library at PIMS that i can use?

PIMS does have a library and I'm sure they will let you use it if you are working there. Also, Shifa is about a 5-10 minute drive/taxi ride away from PIMS and has an extensive library of medical textbooks that you could use. Shifa's library won't let you take the books home but you are allowed to study there (as long as you wear a white coat while in the library) or you can get pages copied out of a textbook and take those home.


Welcome to Med Studentz! #happy

 

[kiran22]

Thank you for all ur help.

I will keep all of this in mind.

Which textbooks are most used for learning about general clinical medicine? Here, we use Kumar and Clark's Clinical medicine.

 

[shimmer]

Hi Irum,
What a coincidence! I'm also from the UK (London), and planning on doing my elective in PIMS (Paediatrics) in Sept- Nov '09. However, i have been unable to find any contact details. Could you give me a quick guide of the application process you had to go through? Any other useful details would be helpful too
Thanks!

 

[MastahRiz]

Kumar and Clark is good, you can also use Current or Davidson or Harrison's.

 

[kiran22]

Hi Irum,
What a coincidence! I'm also from the UK (London), and planning on doing my elective in PIMS (Paediatrics) in Sept- Nov '09. However, i have been unable to find any contact details. Could you give me a quick guide of the application process you had to go through? Any other useful details would be helpful too
Thanks!

hiya,

yeh i can give u emails and contact numbers. Its quite easy to organise, you just send them an email, stating what elective you want to do, what your main aims and learning objectives are. You also send them a CV and also a reference/ recommendation letter from your medical school. you can send all this by email if you want. If you can give me your email address (u can send me it by message if u want) and I can send you the contacts- hope they help.
xxx

Kumar and Clark is good, you can also use Current or Davidson or Harrison's.

hi riz, thanks for the heads up.

Btw I wanted to know something about shifa. i was going to apply there, but they only accept 4th years, and im currently in 3rd year at the moment. Is it true that some students get into the medical university just because they have a good contact or they have lots of money, even if they dont have the right grades?

 

[MastahRiz]

hi riz, thanks for the heads up.

Btw I wanted to know something about shifa. i was going to apply there, but they only accept 4th years, and im currently in 3rd year at the moment. Is it true that some students get into the medical university just because they have a good contact or they have lots of money, even if they dont have the right grades?

Negative on the money, but definitely on the contacts. I haven't seen people doing that, but I'd imagine if your father is a doctor there or something, it wouldn't be too hard to set up.

 

[kiran22]

Negative on the money, but definitely on the contacts. I haven't seen people doing that, but I'd imagine if your father is a doctor there or something, it wouldn't be too hard to set up.

Its just that i had some cousins in pakistan who had excellent grades and they didnt get in, whereas they had frends who had alot lower grades and they got in, just cos they had contacts.
I would never do that, as i think that is awful. people should be successful on the basis of their work and not because of their position in society.
Ive got my elective sorted now, but i hrd about this and I just thought it was very unfair and I couldnt believe it. But tbh, i have been to pakistan before, i know about "sifarish" but i thot that was just with jobs.

PS. sorry everyone, my name is Kiran not irum, thats my sister's name, she was playing around with my first post lol.

 

[MastahRiz]

Yeah, it's lame but it goes on everywhere, not just pakistan, so I don't really blame them. It happens in the US/UK just as often, you just have to be in the right tax bracket.

 

[neelam86]

Riz,
i'm planning on doing my elective ship for one month (during july 2009) and i heard that the hospital rented rooms for about 16000Rs, is that right? and do you think i'll be able to rent for 2 months even if i'm doing my elective for one month? (because i want to stay 2 months in pakistan, and want to study the rest of my time at shifa college...)
tnx for your help

 

[Talha89]

Hi kiran...i am also interested in aplying to uk for medicine. Which school r u attending? And r u a local or international student there? Why did u select pakistan for ur elective...and i also need information about UK and living ther..if we can exchange emails that would be great..\
thnxx

 

[kiran22]

Hi kiran...i am also interested in aplying to uk for medicine. Which school r u attending? And r u a local or international student there? Why did u select pakistan for ur elective...and i also need information about UK and living ther..if we can exchange emails that would be great..\
thnxx

Hi, Im attending University of Glasgow in Scotland. I am a local student, i was born and raised in the UK. I chose pakistan, becoz i wanted to learn about healthcare in a developing country and as a doctor id like to practice in the developing world as i think there is more need for doctors there. Plus ive visited pakistan before, and its a lovely country with lots of things to do and great food!

Ill send u my email through private messaging. Do u want to study in the UK or do an elective?

 

[somictc]

Hi,
I am a medical student at dundee university in UK and am hoping to do my electives in pakistan in JUly 2010 inshahallah. I was just wondering if some one can kindly give me some guidance on arranging accommodation in islalamabad.

Also the people who have been there how did they find the experience, any difficulties in particular that I should be aware of?

Sorry forgot to mention I am doing 1 month rotation at shifa in general medicine and am currently trying to apply for 2 weeks in PIMS as well.

Thanks in advance

 

[MastahRiz]

You can arrange housing through Shifa, if they have room. If they don't have space in their dorms/hostels, you'll have to find relatives, a guest house, or a hotel to stay.

 

[Wajiha]

Hi, i'm a 4rth year med student in Ziauddin University. I'm applying to Shifa this year in Oct-nov. Could any of you who've done their electives there tell me what its like? I'm confused between paediatrics and surgery. Do they let elective students scrub in? And also, in the application form they've mentioned that a separate form must be filled for accomodation, but i cant find any extra form on the website. Can anyone help me with that? thanks=)

 

[safiullah]

first confrm abut elactives in pims coz their is no procedure for up to4rth year students.

 

[studentofmed]

Negative on the money, but definitely on the contacts. I haven't seen people doing that, but I'd imagine if your father is a doctor there or something, it wouldn't be too hard to set up.

Negative on the contacts, too-at least at Shifa. I personally know of a few consultants' kids who couldn't get in- despite their father's big-shot status in the hospital- because they didn't have the right grades.

 

[MastahRiz]

Some are luckier than others I suppose. It's good to know Shifa is becoming more reserved on that type of thing.

 

[Ahad]

Elective in Islamabad/Rawalpindi

Salaam guys,

I'm a final year student studying in London, and plan to do my four week elective in Islamabad/Rawalpindi.

I've noticed that a few previous threads have been from people who were in a similar situation a few years ago. I'm just wondering how it worked out and what advice you have?

I was considering doing 2 weeks at PIMS and 2 weeks at the military hospital.

If you guys are still around could you send me some contact details or useful info please, it'll be much appreciated.


Thanks a lot,


Ahad