Fourth National Annual Mirpurkhas Seminar in Gastroenterology and Hepatology was held at Professor Hassan Memon Memorial Auditorium of Muhammad Medical College, Mirpurkhas on 19th May 2011. It was very well attended by a large number of doctors from College’s attached hospital, senior and junior faculty, final year students, and a large number of doctors from within Mirpurkhas and nearby cities including Mithi, Umerkot, Digri, Nawabshah and Tando Allahyar.
The Seminar started with recitation of Holy Quran. Dr. Shamsul Arfeen Khan, Vice Principal of the College recited from Holy Book and presented its translation. Professor Syed Zafar Abbas introduced the speakers to the audience and described the scheduled event. Professor Noor Muhammad Memon, Head of Department of Medicine at Muhammad Medical College, welcomed the guests and threw light on the importance of holding such seminars of National level at remote areas. Professor Sohail Almani of Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Presented on “Gastro- Oesophageal Reflux Disease”. He described the causative factors of this disease and educated the audience on the impact of too much of modern life fast food and spicy or Oily food. With the help of video clips, he explained the patho- physiology of this disease. He also discussed in detail the various investigations and treatment options. Dr. Aamir Ghouri of Isra Medical University discussed “Coeliac Disease”. He said that there was an acute need to raise the awareness regarding it among masses as well as medical professionals. He described the screening and diagnostic tests and emphasized upon the need for life- long strict gluten- free diet for the sufferers. Professor Noor Muhammad Memon of Muhammad Medical College discussed “Helicobacter Pylori related diseases”. He discussed the relation of the prevalence of this infection and the socio-economic conditions of the society. He described the ways to investigate the infection and its role in causing various diseases, especially peptic ulcer. He described various treatment regimens and their success rates. Professor Amir Ghafoor Khan of PGMI, Peshawar then gave an interactive talk on “Inflammatory Bowel Disease”. He talked on epidemiology, differences between Ulcerative Colitis and Crohns Disease and their extra- intestinal manifestations. He discussed investigations and treatment – both to induce remission and for maintenance of remission. Tea Break followed this talk. Although there were Questions and Answer Sessions after every talk, participants continued their discussion with speakers at the tea- break also.
After the break, Dr. Lubna Kamani of Liaquat National Hospital Karachi presented on “Hepatitis C – past, present and future”. She took audience through history of treatment of this deadly virus and talked about the current treatment options and discussed various possibilities of improvement in treatment success, with the help of potential new medications in the future. With the help of various clinical trials, she compared the practical issues among the currently available treatment. Professor Syed Zafar Abbas of Muhammad Medical College Mirpurkhas then talked on “Chronic Hepatitis B- Basic Concepts in understanding and Managing the Disease”. He discussed the international and national epidemiology and with the help of locally held studies, said that the prevalence of this illness in this region was significantly higher than the national average. He said it was a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Mirpurkhas. He discussed the natural history, various issues surrounding the investigations and treatment of the disease and the treatment of special groups.
Last lecture of the day was the “10th Dr. S. Ali Muhammad Memorial Special Lecture”. This special Lecture Series has been going on for several years and every now and again, an expert in any field of life is invited to talk on a topic which is non- medical, yet related to medical students and doctors as human. This year, Professor Amir Ghafoor Khan of PGMI Peshawar was selected to talk on “My life, My Teacher”. Professor Khan praised the services of Dr. S. Ali Muhammad in the field of medicine and social sector. He explained to the audience the main issues that make a person legend and quoted Dr. S. Ali Muhammad’s personality as a glare example of that. He then focused on the importance of the qualities of listening and talking among doctors. By giving life examples, he explained why it was so important to listen and talk to the patients. The described the art of history taking as one of the most important part of medical education and practice.
Professor Syed Razi Muhammad then gave his concluding remarks and praised those who made this seminar a success. He recalled Mirpurkhas seminars in Gastroenterology of previous years and hoped that the future ones would also be as much of education success as always.
Earlier, shields, publication set of the College and Sindh’s traditional gift of Ajrak were presented to all speakers by Professor Ghulam Ali Memon, Professor Noor Muhammad Memon, Professor Captain Rasheed, Professor Abdul Rahim Siyal, Dr. Qamar Habib, Dr. Abdullah Memon and Professor Syed Razi Muhammad. Professor Razi Muhammad also distributed shields of Honour among many distinguished guests including presidents of PMA of nearby cities. Professor Syed Zafar Abbas thanked all the audience, speakers, doctors, organizers, workers and Getz Pharma for sponsoring this seminar.