ISLAMABAD: In response to growing complaints about rude behaviour, lack of empathy and weak communication skills among healthcare providers, all public and private medical and dental colleges in the federal capital will begin teaching empathy, ethics and communication skills to medical students from the current academic year, senior officials of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University said on Thursday.
“Although attitude and ethics come from family upbringing, we have decided to formally teach empathy, ethics and communication skills at all public and private medical and dental colleges in Islamabad to improve how doctors interact with patients,” Vice Chancellor SZAMBU Prof. Tanvir Khaliq told newsmen.
He said while positive attitude and ethical behaviour were largely shaped at home, the medical profession required structured training to ensure that future doctors treated patients with compassion, respect and dignity throughout their professional lives.
The decision, he said, was taken against the backdrop of widespread public dissatisfaction over the behaviour of healthcare providers in Pakistan, where patients and attendants frequently complain of harsh language, lack of attention, poor explanation of medical conditions and unethical practices that erode trust in doctors and hospitals.
Healthcare experts say the absence of empathy and communication skills among doctors has contributed to serious mistrust between patients and medical professionals, often leading to conflicts, complaints, violence in hospitals and reluctance among people to seek timely medical care.
Prof. Khaliq said SZAMBU had developed a six-week structured module on empathy, ethics and communication skills, which would be taught across all affiliated medical and dental colleges in the capital.
He added that the module would be an ongoing component of medical education rather than a one-time exercise, aimed at improving doctors’ behaviour, attitude and interaction with patients over the long term.
He said most patients in Pakistan came from backgrounds where they could not understand technical medical terminology and primarily needed compassion, reassurance and clear explanations. “In many cases, even attendants do not understand the language doctors use, which creates a communication gap and breeds mistrust. This module is meant to bridge that gap,” he added.
Sharing a brief overview of the university’s progress, Prof. Khaliq said SZAMBU, which became operational in 2014, currently had more than 10,000 students enrolled in around 60 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and generated most of its funds from its own resources, with limited financial support from the Higher Education Commission.
He said the university had established a molecular genetics and next generation sequencing laboratory to support research in genetic and inherited disorders, but acknowledged that the lack of some advanced equipment was limiting research capacity. He added that genetic-based diagnosis and targeted therapies, including for cancers and rare diseases, were increasingly shaping modern treatment, underscoring the need for greater investment in advanced laboratory infrastructure.
Prof. Khaliq said SZAMBU would be shifted to its new purpose-built campus by the middle of this year, with June 30 set as the deadline for completion, and that the first syndicate meeting would be held in the new building by the end of June. He added that the university had also submitted a summary to the HEC seeking approval for 15 PhD programmes to expand research and doctoral training in priority health disciplines.
He further said the university planned to start training in robotic surgery as robotic systems were being installed at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, while also continuing Basic Life Support training and offering it to people from different segments of society, saying timely first response skills could help save lives.
