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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Asian J Neurosurg
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1812294
Review Article

Advancing Surgical and Medical Education: Insights and Lessons from Neurosurgery in Pakistan

Authors

  • Hammad Atif Irshad 

    1   Medical College, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.

  • Eman Anwar

    1   Medical College, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.

  • Taha Shaikh 

    1   Medical College, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.

  • Dahir Ashfaq

    1   Medical College, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.

  • Muhammad Shakir 

    2   Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States

  • Syed Ather Enam

    3   Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
    4   Centre of Oncological Research in Surgery, Juma Research Laboratories, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
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Abstract

In this article, we have summarized the current landscape of neurosurgical education in Pakistan, highlighting key gaps in training, mentorship, and academic resources. In this narrative review, we explore original articles and reviews that discussed the factors affecting the surgical and medical education in Pakistan, published between January 2000 and July 2025. At the undergraduate level, exposure to surgical subspecialties like neurosurgery is often limited and inconsistent, which may affect students' interest in pursuing such fields. Postgraduate training programs also exhibit significant variation in the quality of mentorship, academic activities, and access to modern teaching resources like simulation-based learning.

Based on the latest assessment of medical education pertaining to neurosurgery in Pakistan, recommendations for the way forward are provided in this article.

Keywords

clinical curriculum - developing country - medical education - Pakistan - surgical education

Authors' Contributions

H.A.I. conceptualized the topic; E.A., T.S., And H.A.I. prepared and reviewed the manuscript; D.A. edited the manuscript; H.A.I., M.S., and S.A.E. supervised the manuscript; all authors approved the final version.




Publication History

Article published online:
29 October 2025

© 2025. Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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