Postgraduate doctors take on PIMS administration over threats, assault, and lost training  

Islamabad: A confrontation at the highest parliamentary forum has exposed deep cracks inside the Burn Centre of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, with postgraduate doctors accusing senior administrators of coercion, academic sabotage, and physical assault, while the hospital leadership countered with claims of indiscipline, private practice, and deliberate destabilization of a critical national facility.The matter came before the Senate Standing Committee on health, where the agenda was to review operational failures, training standards, staff conditions, patient safety, and mortality trends at the Burn Centre. What unfolded instead was an extraordinary clash between postgraduate residents and the hospital administration, forcing the committee to step in and draw a line between criminal allegations and academic governance.The residents were represented by Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim, a final stage postgraduate trainee, alongside Dr. Ali Mujtaba and Dr. Rizwan Ullah. Dr. Ibrahim told the committee that the crisis began after the retirement of Prof. Tariq Iqbal, following which control of the department was handed to Prof. Dr. Abdul Khaliq Malik. He alleged that residents were pressured into signing applications for supervisorship and were warned that refusal would result in failure, citing alleged influence of the administration with regulatory and university authorities. He claimed that his training was effectively destroyed, asserting that the supervisor conducted only two clinical rounds and two surgeries over a period of months, leaving residents without structured exposure or mentorship.The most serious allegation presented to the committee was that the Executive Director of PIMS, Prof. Rana Iqbal, physically assaulted Dr. Ibrahim, verbally abused him, and confined him in an office for more than two hours after residents raised complaints with external forums. Dr. Ibrahim told the committee that security personnel later barred the residents from entering the premises, effectively cutting them off from clinical duties. He demanded that CCTV footage be reviewed to verify his account and insisted that his training period was ending without completion of mandatory ward based requirements.Prof. Dr. Abdul Khaliq Malik, addressing the committee in his defense, rejected the accusations outright and questioned the credibility of the complainants. He identified himself as a plastic surgeon with over fifteen years of experience and argued that burn care falls squarely within plastic surgery. He stated that after Prof. Tariq Iqbal’s exit, no other faculty member met eligibility requirements, forcing the administration to assign him responsibility to prevent collapse of the unit. He further alleged that the residents were being influenced by the retired professor, who he said is seeking reappointment through litigation.Turning the tables on the residents, Prof. Khaliq accused Dr. Ibrahim of running a private clinic while enrolled in full time training and claimed that another resident worked evenings at a private hospital. He further alleged attempts to exert pressure through inappropriate conduct, including accusations of offering large sums of money to his staff. He maintained that under his leadership, the unit had undergone measurable improvements, including the establishment of a skin bank, the appointment of a critical care specialist after decades, and a sharp reduction in mortality figures, which he claimed had dropped dramatically compared to the previous period.The Executive Director of PIMS backed the supervisor, telling the committee that the Burn Centre had historically functioned without dedicated critical care support and suffered from severe infrastructure neglect. He said a sterilization system had remained non functional for years, forcing closure of one operation theatre, and claimed that these deficiencies were addressed only under the current administration, with additional equipment procured and surgical capacity restored. On the academic front, he stated that the training program had long been registered under Prof. Khaliq’s name and that student evaluations fall under university jurisdiction, not hospital management.The Vice Chancellor of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University confirmed that the burn surgery program has produced only a handful of graduates since its inception and said that replacing a supervisor within months was academically unjustified. He told the committee that a review of an alternative faculty member proposed by the students did not meet burn specific criteria. He disclosed that a committee of senior professors had already interviewed all parties and recommended allowing trainees to complete their degrees while offering others the option to shift into general or plastic surgery. A separate academic committee, he said, has been formed to overhaul the curriculum.When the allegations of assault were raised, the federal health authorities made it clear that criminal matters fall outside the committee’s mandate, directing the complainant to pursue legal remedies while indicating that official records could be sought if required. On academic grievances, assurances were given that examination and assessment processes could be reviewed if procedural violations were substantiated.The Chairman of the committee ultimately ruled that the forum would not adjudicate police matters and instructed that the university’s recommendations be implemented, directing the health ministry to ensure the dispute is resolved without further damage to patient care. With that, the agenda item was closed, and the students were told to return only if their grievances remained unaddressed after the committee’s intervention.