An Exceptional Daughter Of Balochistan Breaking Stereotypes

Shazia Mehboob

Islamabad: There is much more in medicine to beat cultural conservatism, feudalism and ignorance. Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, an exceptionally brave daughter of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, has proved this after winning the slot of vice president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan (CPSP) for the second time and the President’s Pride of Performance Award.

It is not only a proud moment for Dr Ayesha and her family but for the entire Balochistan as well as Pakistan; as the woman from a marginalized and oppressed community not only beat all odds in her life and stereotypes associated with the Baloch and Pashtoon culture, but led the medical community as a councillor of the CPSP.

Dr Ayesha is the first woman councillor and chief regional director in the medical history of Pakistan to have won the CPSP election twice. It is also pertinent to mention here that Dr Siddiqa is the first female medical practitioner in Balochistan who has become a professor and a doctor, and has been elected as the vice president of the CPSP. Dr Muhammad Shoaib Shafai has been elected as senior vice president of the college.

Prof. Ayesha is a highly accomplished medical professional who graduated from Bolan Medical College in Quetta in 1987 and was awarded the gold medal for the best graduate.

She was awarded the Quaid-e-Azam merit scholarship from HEC Islamabad to pursue higher studies in the UK, where she obtained a Master’s degree in gynaecological oncology from the University of Glasgow in 1995 and became a Fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS) in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (OBGYN) in 1996.

Prof Siddiqa has held numerous positions, including serving as a professor and former head of the OBGYN Department at Bolan Medical College, a faculty member of CPSP from 2011 to 2014, and a councillor and chief regional director of CPSP Balochistan from 2019 to 2023. She has received several national and international awards, including the Presidential Pride of Performance award; and is an active member of various national and international medical societies, including the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), the Asia and Oceania Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AOFOG), and the South Asian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (SAFOG). Prof Ayesha has played a crucial role in establishing an ICU in Sandeman Provincial Teaching Hospital Quetta, and has organised several national conferences for obstetricians and gynaecologists in Pakistan, even during periods of critical law and order situations.

The CPSP is a regulatory college established in 1962 by a special act of the Parliament of Pakistan to oversee postgraduate medical education and professional development. CPSC elections were held across the country on Saturday, and the friends of the panel won the election across the country. Elections occur every four years. It is made up of 11 Punjab seats, 6 Sindh seats, 2 KP seats, and one Balochistan seat. The council body runs the entire college.

Presidential award winner Prof Ayesha Siddiqa was declared successful after getting 160 votes from Balochistan and more than 350,000 votes, while her opponent, Dr Khan Babar from Balochistan, got only 80 votes.

Dr Naqeeb Achakzai stood second with 14 votes, and Dr Shoaib Qureshi was third with 12 votes. After the success of the elections, a meeting of the successful candidates from all over the country was held, in which Dr Khalid Masood Gondal of King Edward Medical University was elected as the President of the CPSP and Dr Ayesha Siddiqa was elected as the Vice President of Balochistan.

The medical community in Balochistan and other provinces expressed hope by welcoming the appointment of Dr Ayesha as vice president. Dr Yasir informed me that during her 4-year tenure, CPSP Councillor created 80 supervisors for Balochistan to provide training to MBBS doctors from different departments. Earlier, for the FCPS degree, fellows had to go to Lahore and Karachi.

It was quite difficult for women from the province to go there; they couldn’t go alone without any guardians. So, she began to conduct convocation ceremonies in Balochistan. She will work for Balochistan in the same manner as before, when she held the position of Chief Regional Director of the CPS, Dr Yasir added.

Balochistan is an impoverished region with fewer post-graduation institutions. The CPSV Vice President said that the number of fellows and trainees has increased threefold in the last four years for postgraduate education in the province. The doctors who would receive this postgraduate degree would become highly trained in medical expertise. They become consultants and contribute to the wellbeing of their district’s residents.

During her tenure, the chief regional director organised the first convocation ceremony for fellows after 30 years in Quetta on May 20, 2022. She made efforts to recognise Shaikh Zayed Hospital Lahore from CPSP, so now post-graduation training will occur there and at Benazir Bhutto Hospital as well. As a result, they will now produce more trained postgraduate doctors; and will go into the peripheries and serve in the far-flung areas of the country.

Vice President (VP) said that it’s an honour for theprovince that a doctor from an impoverished area has achieved such milestones. She pledged to highlight the issues facing the province, adding that “since now I have become vice president, now I will work for the entire country. My efforts will not only be confined to Balochistan.”

“Throughout Pakistan, I will increase the number of faculty, monitor their training and visit hospitals to ensure good quality work and education standards are being maintained, the system is running smoothly, and the 36-hour duty per week of doctors is being fulfilled or not,”the Councillor said.

“I made an effort to conduct the Intermediate Module Exam (IMM) in Quetta because earlier our females used to go to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to give that practical exam. Moreover, the CPSP building, which was constructed in 2007, has not been further expanded, so I’ll work on that as well,” gold medallist Dr Ayesha further added.

Many many congratulations Dr Ayesha Saddiqa for winning the President Pride of Performance Award, which you are going to receive on Mrach 23.

Post Views: 1,434