Undergraduate medical education in underdeveloped countries: The case of Pakistan

The type of medical education of a country is closely linked with its system of health care. Any health care system, with its own peculiarities, requires a certain type of doctor who can function effectively in the given environment. The same is the case with underdeveloped capitalist countries, such as Pakistan, where a skewed, elitist, curative model of health care exists. In Pakistan, where the literacy levels in the native tongue are very low, medicine is taught in English, and nearly all prescribed textbooks are written in and for the West. Conditions specific to Pakistan, such as the degree of cheating in exams, the time lost due to closure, and the level of debate concerning the medical system may find their parallels in other UDCs. Since it is the social and economic forces, which, in the final analysis, determine the system of health care and medical education, one cannot expect any significant improvement within the existing class structure. Only in a country where the masses have control over the production and distribution of resources, can the systems of health care and medical education be brought in line with the real needs of the community and of the country.