KMU-BIC in Collaboration with ORIC launches Pakistan's first design thinking training for MBBS students

The Khyber Medical University Business Incubation Centre (KMU-BIC) in Collaboration with Office of  Research, Innovation &Commercialization (ORIC)organized Pakistan's first design thinking training for MBBS students at KMU-Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Kohat. The program aims to introduce students to design thinking as an approach to problem-solving through effective innovation in healthcare. Prof. Dr. Musarrat Jabeen Principal KIMS Kohat inaugurated the training and encouraged the students to make the most out of it.

It is pertinent to mention that in the Western world, design thinking has been increasingly adopted as an approach to support innovation in healthcare. For instance, the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine has integrated design thinking into its curriculum since 2014. The school’s Design Thinking and Clinical Empathy course teaches medical students how to use design thinking to improve patient care. Another example is the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine which has integrated design thinking into its curriculum since 2015. The school’s Design Thinking and Communication course teaches medical students how to use design thinking to improve communication with patients.

In Pakistan, Khyber Medical University is taking the lead in introducing design thinking at the undergraduate and graduate level. The university has already conducted two highly successful customized Design Thinking workshops for students from different healthcare domains. With the introduction of the MBBS-specific training, the university is now among the few top global universities that offer design thinking courses at the undergraduate level in the healthcare domain.

The Design Thinking training was organized by Waseem ul Haq, Head of BIC-KMU, in collaboration with Dr. Zohaib Khan, Director ORIC, and under the personal interest of Prof. Zia ul Haq, Vice Chancellor, Khyber Medical University. Prof. Zia ul Haq wants to make healthcare education at KMU at par with top universities of the world with an increased focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, and this training is one such Initiative.  

The lead trainer for this program is Mr. Fazli Subhan, Head of BIC at the University of Malakand, who is an expert in design thinking and an internationally certified trainer with an MBA from the University of Liverpool, UK, and an MS from the University of Paris Dauphine - PSL. He holds certifications from IE Business School Spain, UC-Berkeley Haas, USA, LUMS, and ILO. He is an alumni of the Australia Awards short course in Business Incubation Management at the University of Queensland, Australia, and has worked with different organizations and delivered training in different countries across three continents. He has been contributing to the upliftment of Pakistan's startup and innovation ecosystem since 2012.

On the first day of training, the participants described the program as a refreshing experience, and the training activities helped them build their creative confidence step by step. They were highly optimistic that the training would enable them to provide better care for their patients in the future and come up with innovative solutions that would revolutionize healthcare on a global scale