Where Will The Cardiologists Come From?

Abstract

Both the Cardiovascular Institutes in Pakistan, i.e. The NICVD Karachi and the AFIC Pindi and all the departmen ts of cardiology across the coun try, are manned by foreign trained physicians including a few properly trained cardiologists. Pakistan, therefore, has been completely dependant on foreign trained Pakistani physicians who opt to return home. With gradual and severe limits being placed by countries like USA and UK on the number of trainee foreign physicians being allowed into those countries, the pool of foreign trained physicians from which Pakistan has been drawing is rapidly getting depleted. Theref ore, we can expect a sudden void in the number of cardiologists available in Pakistan when th e s e n io r cadre o f th e p re sen t day ca rdio logis ts re tire with - in the next decade.

Should we wait complacently, as is our usual habit, until the moment of truth is on us, or, should we like in telligen t people and :nat ions plan ahead ? Let us address ourselves to this distant but very critical problem. Let us not let our profession down, that is,if we indeed are Cardiologists and believe in developing cardiological services in Pakistan.