Scope of Allied Health Sciences

Blog post

Here is a guest post on allied health sciences by Dr. Farah Amir Ali.

Most students opt pre medical in FSc with their focus to get admission in MBBS program. Nevertheless, due to limited number of seats and high competition of grades and number many failed to get admissions. As they haven’t planned or looked for any alternative B or C plan, they stuck up and many fails to decide their career education.

In this blog we will look for some high demanding allied health sciences technical 4 years BS programs which are booming and prerequisite skill health workers. After completion of bachelor programs, you can upgrade by doing masters and post-graduation in relevant fields.

1) BSc in Anesthesia Technology: This four-year bachelor program with skills specific to anesthesia technology. These healthcare providers are involved in peri-operative anaesthetic care and provide a key role in emergency resuscitation.

This program is offered by SIUT Karachi, KEMU Lahore. Job opportunities are available in operation theatres and ICUs of any hospital.

2) BSc in cardiac perfusion: Perfusion Technologists prepare and operate heart-lung machines and other sophisticated equipment as directed by healthcare physicians. Perfusionists measure blood pressure and other parameters to identify appropriate mechanical, pharmacological and thermal manipulation to maintain tissue viability.

This program is offered by Tabba Heart institute Karachi, Ziauddin medical college Karachi, KEMU Lahore, PIC Lahore, NUMs Rawalpindi etc.

3) BSc in medical imaging technology: Modern radiology is a highly diversified and vast field consisting of such diverse areas such as – Diagnostic Radiology, Interventional Radiology, Radiation Therapy and Nuclear Medicine. These highly trained and specialized professionals work with patients undergoing procedures such interventional angiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, doppler scanning and ultrasonography. Thus, they are a key part of the health care delivery team in any modern hospital set up.

This program is offered by many universities including KEMU, UMT in Lahore, LNH Karachi.

4) BSc in operation theatre technology: This program builds trained and qualified professionals who will assist medical professionals in the operation theatre of hospitals, intensive care units as well as emergency departments. Surgical technologists perform functions and tasks that provide a safe environment for surgical care and contribute to the efficiency of the operating team by supporting operating surgeons, nurses and others involved in diagnostic and operative procedures. The success of the procedures and safety of patients depends largely on the reliability of the OT technician. Graduates will find a challenging career in hospitals, emergency centers.

This program is offered by KEMU Lahore, LNH Karachi etc.

The admission criteria are mainly based on matric, intermediate plus MDCAT/entry test results, few institutes set up their test for selection of students.

There are many other skilled BS programs offered like medical laboratory technician, audiology, optometry, orthodontics & prosthetic technology, speech therapy, renal dialysis, critical care etc. These bachelor programs provide better opportunities of jobs nationally and internationally.

We have observed that few institutes which are offering these courses are not equipped with proper set up. My advice to all the students that during selection of college and university for any program, you must look for facilities available by given institute to provide platform for proper training and hands on skills

By Dr Farah Amir Ali

MBBS, MPhil