The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has announced stricter eligibility requirements for PhD scholars, making participation in at least three national and one international conference or seminar mandatory before the award of a doctoral degree.
The decision was taken during the 227th meeting of the Advanced Studies and Research Board (ASRB), chaired by Vice Chancellor Prof. Ahsan Waheed Rathore, as part of the university’s efforts to enhance the quality of research and postgraduate education.
During the meeting, the board also approved four new competency-based PhD programs in Medical Education, Nursing, Oral Biology, and Public Health.
In addition, the ASRB endorsed a revised Master of Health Professions Education (MHPE) curriculum and approved the Certificate in Comprehensive Family Medicine Practice and Emergency Care (CCFP-EC) program.
The newly introduced PhD Nursing program, developed under the NURTURE Framework, is designed to strengthen clinical leadership, research, teaching, healthcare policy, and professional ethics. The curriculum includes 500 hours of clinical residency, 200 hours of teaching residency, competency-based training, and mandatory life-saving skills workshops.
The PhD in Public Health will focus on disease prevention, health promotion, health systems strengthening, implementation science, community-based research, and the application of artificial intelligence in public health.
Meanwhile, the PhD Oral Biology program features advanced coursework in craniofacial developmental biology, regenerative dentistry, stem cell research, biomaterials, dental forensic sciences, oral microbiology, and oral immunology to enhance research capacity in dental sciences.
The university also approved the six-month Certificate in Comprehensive Family Medicine Practice and Emergency Care (CCFP-EC) program, which aims to improve the clinical skills of general practitioners through blended learning, supervised clinical attachments, emergency care training, and mandatory life-saving skills workshops in line with World Health Organization recommendations for primary healthcare.
