Khyber Medical College, Peshawar, Pakistan. (2004-20)

Khyber Medical College, Peshawar is one of the most reputed and prestigious institution of Pakistan. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of laying the foundation stone of the college which was laid by Malik Ghulam Muhammad, the then Governor General of Pakistan on 2nd of May 1954. Sardar Abdul Rasheed, the then Chief Minister of NWFP and Colonel Munawar Khan Afridi, the then Director General Health chose the name, Khyber Medical College.

The inaugural address was delivered by Malik Ghulam Muhammad, the then Governor General of Pakistan and the welcome address was delivered by Colonel Munawar Khan Afridi, the then Director General Health. Dr. A.K.M. Abdul Waheed was selected to be the first principal of this great institution.

The local landlords donated the property for the college, which shows their love for education and, humanity. The first batch was planned in October 1954 to be consisting of 25 students but to great astonishment of the authorities; the people of NWFP showed their great interest in this subject and the first batch consisted of 50 students among which there were six girls too.

Khyber Medical College was the first medical college in the North West frontier Province and the sixth in Pakistan after King Edwards Medical College, Labore, Dow Medical College, Karachi, Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore, Nishtar Medical College, Multan and Liaquat Medical College, Jamshoro and this marked the beginning of a new and a glorious era.

On 19th November 1960, Khyber Medical College got formal recognition internationally when a seven member British team of eminent medical dignitaries visited the college. Initially Khyber Medical College was under administrative control of the Peshawar university but later on it was taken over by the health departments 1975.

Khyber Medical College is a name that speaks of its own academic brilliance as the graduates it has produced have proved their abilities in their respective specialities around the world. In all the post graduation examinations in Pakistan or abroad, the passing percentage of the students of Khyber Medical College is excellent. Also the students of Khyber Medical College have shown their competence in the license examinations conducted for different countries.

Apart from the academic activities, Khyber Medical College has also been a harbor for young writers and poets and Literary Society has flourished in Khyber Medical College throughout the years. Efforts to bring out the first magazine by the name "Cenna" started in 1957 and in 1959 the dream of bringing out Cenna became a reality. Although three Literary Secretaries worked for it, one after another, namely Javed fqbal, Afzal Muhammad Khan and Muharnmad Sultan, but it was Muhammad Sultan in whose tenure, the first ever Cenna was published.

The Social Welfare Society, Khyber Medical College started its functioning during the year 1978 as three different societies namely Totts, Pinows and Escort. In 1984 the three societies were merged together forming Students welfare society. Later on the name was changed to Social Welfare Society. Naveed Alam was selected to be the first General Secretary of the society in 1984. Due to selfless services of the members of the society, it was declared the best society of all the medical colleges by the late President of Pakistan, General Zia-ul-Haque in 1985. It has also been declared the best youth wing of Pakistan Red Crescent Society NWFP for the last many years.

Another emerging society of the college is the Debating Society, which existed as a club for many years but in 1998, this club was transformed into a full fledge society. Muhammad lrfan was selected to be the first President of the society in 1998. The society with its limited resources has arranged many All Peshawar declamation contests and an All Pakistan Medical Colleges declamation contest in 2000, the first of its kind in NWFP. Moreover the members of the Debating Society have won many prizes in different competitions all-around Pakistan.

Several other clubs have also shown great promise in their activities throughout the years. The names of Sports Club and Hiking Club are noteworthy for their concrete efforts in keeping the students of Khyber Medical College physically fit, so that they can perform well with their minds.

Khyber Medical College served as a parent institution and led to the creation of Ayub Medical College, Abottabad, Postgraduate medical Institute, Peshawar, Saidu Medical College, Swat and Gomal Medical College, D.I. Khan. It has produced thousands of graduates and is the prime source of producing specialists in different disciplines of Medicine and is fulfilling the requirement of specialized services in the province. In addition, dozens of our graduates are working abroad on very high positions and have earned good name for the country and the institutions.

As an institution, Khyber Medical College is also up to the mark. All of its basic and clinical disciplines are fully equipped with modern equipment and highly trained professional staff. Recently it has also started Postgraduate training in basic sciences and the first batch of the students has successfully completed their courses.

On October 18, 1989, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan announced the up gradation of Khyber Medical College to the status of the University and successive governments have also supported the idea but no concrete effort was made. It is the present government that has started practical work on it and hopefully lnsha Allah we will see it as a university in the near future.

As a part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, the college had arranged academic and cultural events from 20th to 26th of December 2004. Convocation ceremony for the last year's graduates, Scientific sessions with quality research papers and cultural events like Mushaira etc. had been planned for this occasion. Date of Issue (December 30, 2004)