By Shamila Keyani | Business Development Officer
“The treatment of the patients and the clean atmosphere prevailing there touched me deep within.” – Muhammad Zaheer Khan (Volunteer UM Trust)
A visit to a hospital is a whole lot of experience in itself. A friend of mine when asked me to visit a hospital run by UM Trust invoked a great deal of curiosity. She then asked me for the volunteering opportunity at the hospital which I readily accepted. Reason being, the hospital was in a rural area of Mardan and the way my friend introduced the trust was worth volunteering for.The journey was long and on way we were talking about the country politics, religion and whole lot of other issues however; my host friend kept talking about UM trust and different aspects of its programmes and the hospital. This made us more inquisitive.
On reaching there, we were warmly welcomed by the staff and were duly introduced to the team and different facilities. I found that patients were documented in a unique way, something that is not usually practiced in Pakistan. They use Electronic Medical Records (EMR), which have a special module called SOAP. This is an acronym for Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan. The software development took place at National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, with collaboration of students and faculty members there. Through this, a patient is first seen by nursing staff who takes notes of patient present condition, including symptoms in narrative form. The patients are then asked to give vital signs and measurements including blood pressure, weight, height etc. This is termed as Objective analysis. A physician then sees the patient and does medical diagnosis called Analysis. He then gives medication, referrals, or further labs. This is referred to as Plan. All this data is saved through the software. The patients’ record can be shared online with volunteer physicians in other cities of Pakistan and abroad.
As a whole, the entire hospital presented a very bright look. The treatment of the patients and the clean atmosphere prevailing there touched me deep within. The behavior of doctor and nurses was worthy of commendations. They acted most wisely and ably in handling problems of the patients. When I came out of hospital, I realized that there is a whole lot of difference in the atmosphere that prevails inside and outside the hospital.
I am glad for using this volunteering opportunity and wish such practices are emulated throughout Pakistan.
Article by Muhammad Zaheer Khan- Volunteer UM Healthcare Trust
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