Are Pakistans female medical

students to be doctors or wives?

41 minutes ago

From the sectionAsia

Image captionWomen outnumber men in Pakistan's medical colleges
In Pakistan's prestigious medical schools, female students outshine and
outnumber their male counterparts. However, many do not end up as
practicing doctors - and now there are calls to limit their numbers, the
BBC's Amber Shamsi in Islamabad reports.
Twenty fourth-year medical students are learning how to examine a patient with a
throat infection. Today's lesson is as much about patient care as it is the anatomy of
the throat.
The patient is real, a woman, and the instructor invites several of the female
students to examine her, since cultural sensitivities dictate that she does not want to
be inspected by a man. The instructor has his pick, since there are 17 women and
three men in this group of students.
It is almost as if men are an endangered species in Pakistan's medical colleges.

'Catching a husband'
The government body that regulates the medical profession, the Pakistan Medical
and Dental Council (PMDC), says more than 70% of medical students are women.
Competition to get into these medical colleges is tough - at one college I was told
that they receive 10,000 applications for a 100 places. In the more prestigious
colleges, students must get 90% grades or more in order to be considered.
I ask one male student why the women were outshining the men. He is in his fifth
year, specialising in ear, nose and throat.
"Boys go out, hang out with their friends," he says. "Girls can't go out as much, so
they stay at home and rote-learn."
Image captionEntry into the country's top medical schools is fiercely competitive
In other words, perhaps the success of women students is not so much their own
hard work, it is embedded in the culture of keeping girls at home.
And government figures suggest most of these bright female undergraduate doctors
do not actually go on to practise. Only 23% of registered doctors are female.

Hot ticket
The vice-chancellor of the prestigious Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto medical university
in Islamabad, Dr Javed Akram, says that girls are more focused on excelling
academically than boys.

At the same time, he accepts that some female students are more keen on catching
a husband than on pursuing a career.
"It's much easier for girls to get married once they are doctors and many girls don't
really intend to work as professional doctors," he says.
"I know of hundreds of hundreds of female students who have qualified as a doctor
or a dentist but they have never touched a patient."
Image captionDr Javed Akram, who rejects the idea of quotas, says his university's
female students "study harder so obviously they are better students"
Privately, many doctors - both male and female - tell me that a medical degree is an
extremely hot ticket in the marriage market.
To confirm this claim, I visit the Aisha Marriage Bureau run by Kamran Ahmed and his
wife. Business is so good they are opening their second branch in Islamabad.
Mr Ahmed says his best clients are mothers seeking doctor wives for their sons. "In
social gatherings, it's very prestigious to introduce your daughter-in-law or wife as a
doctor."
And he says if a young female doctor is even a little good-looking, then finding a
match for her is a breeze. "By the way, if you know of any single doctor girls, please
let me know. I have boys who are looking," he adds in a cheeky aside.
Image captionKamran Ahmed says having a doctor for a daughter-in-law is
considered prestigious
But the "doctor wife" is more than a trophy: her absence from hospitals has serious
implications on the healthcare system of a poor country like Pakistan.
The government spends millions of rupees on subsidies per student - yet there is a
serious shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas where women prefer to be
examined by female doctors.

'More women-friendly'
Dr Shaista Faisal is an official with the PMDC whose research into the subject led the
council to try and introduce a limit on the number of women being admitted to
medical colleges.
When news of the "quota" on male-female admissions broke in the local media it
quickly drew flak and controversy. But the PMDC insists it is the only solution.
"It's not a quota. We want 50% of admissions to be for males and 50% for females,"
Dr Faisal says, a little defensively.
"It's not discrimination. I don't think we're allowing boys who don't study to get into
medical schools. This shortage of doctors is the biggest challenge to Pakistan's
health system."
Image captionMany female medical students face a dilemma: their careers or their
familiesImage captionHuman rights lawyer Shahzad Akbar argues that quotas in
medical colleges are unconstitutional

Human rights lawyer Shahzad Akbar strongly disagrees. "The wrong here is that
women are being discriminated against here for being too smart."
Mr Akbar has filed a petition in court challenging the decision to introduce the
"quota". He calls it unconstitutional and says the government should encourage
women to stay in the profession instead.
"The answer is that they have to make the working environment more womenfriendly rather than saying, no, you can't be a doctor because you end up leaving the
profession."
Columnist Fasi Zaka also believes that the government has the wrong end of the
stick.
"Yes, doctors are leaving, but the restrictions should be at the point of exit rather
than entry." He suggests asking those who fail to practise to reimburse the
government the large sums it costs to train them.
Image captionMore than 70% of medical students are women
Back at the medical school, two starry-eyed female students tell me they are
determined to become doctors. But if they were asked to choose between their
careers or their families, which would it be?
"I'd try to convince them," says 20-year-old Eliya Khawar. "But if they aren't, I'd
choose family."
Her classmate Manza Maqsood concurs. "Family. In our culture, family always comes
first."
Everyone seems to agree on the diagnosis of the problem, but not on the cure.
Maybe, it's time to introduce a quota for women with pushy families.

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