Aga Khan University Medical College (AKU-MC) was established in 1983 and enrols students in a five-year programme leading to the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree. It has to date conferred 1,370 degrees. The educational offerings in medicine range from a five-year bachelor's degree to a number of clinical postgraduate residencies.

In the academic year 1996-97, Aga Khan University (AKU) introduced a master's degree programme in Epidemiology and a joint programme in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. To date 57 students have graduated from these two programmes. In 1999, a PhD programme in Health Sciences was introduced. Course work and independent research form an integral part of graduate studies. In October 2000, AKU introduced a Master's programme in Health Policy and Management. This programme is designed to train professionals in strategic and operational planning, policy analysis, institutional management and in health systems research and development. In 2002, the first batch of three graduates from this programme received their degrees.

The curricular objectives of AKU-MC include clinical competence both in community settings and hospitals, as well as the assessment of health and prevention of disease in communities through the primary health care programmes that AKU monitors in a number of urban squatter settlements. Agreements with leading academic institutions, including Harvard University in the United States, McGill and McMaster Universities in Canada and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, have contributed to faculty and curriculum development. Recent affiliations are with the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and University of Alabama, USA. These partnerships enable higher training and research, specifically in areas where such opportunities are not available in Pakistan.


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