Founder-cum-Director, Sindh Institute of Urology & Transplantation (SIUT) Prof Dr Adib Rizvi on Saturday said that the core principle of community services was based on empathy, compassion and dedication to serve selflessly.
He was speaking to the participants of the certificate awarding ceremony of the successful participants of the SIUT Students Volunteer Program Batches 55 & 56 Summer Session held at SIUT at the end of a week-long community service programs carried out by the young generation of Pakistan.
Prof Dr Adib Rizvi said, “This program enables the young generation to see firsthand, the sufferings of the under-privileged & disfranchised and it also develops their life skills and infuses in them a spirit and will to reach out, help and care for their fellow human beings.” This program, most revered by the students, parents & teachers was initiated by SIUT in 2006 for the students of 9th, 10th, first year, second year and O & A levels of several educational institutions, he added.
The program is conducted at SIUT premises during the summer & winter vacations and to date a total of 6655 candidates have completed this well-recognized program. The basic aim of this highly structured & well thought program is to encourage, motivate & impart insightful training to the participants to perform civic duties & engage in meaningful community services for society at large.
The program started with orientation sessions, in which the parents were also present, and the participants were informed of the various activities scheduled during the entire week. The complete range of SIUT’s services, its 12 centres located throughout Pakistan, and its various departments were explained.
The philosophy of SIUT was discussed at length, highlighting SIUT’s mission statement of ‘Free Quality Treatment for All with Dignity & Compassion Irrespective Of their Caste, Color, Creed, Gender & Religious Beliefs’.
In the programs, lectures were delivered, especially on personal hygiene/infection control, common psychiatric issues, nursing, diet/nutrition, digital media, robotic surgery, social work, motivational talks, nephrology, urology, organ transplantation, organ donation, biomedical ethics, and pediatric cardiology, amongst others. There were interactive hands-on sessions on nursing (vital signs measurement training), skills lab simulations of robotic surgery, urology, gastroenterology, CPR/resuscitation and included a visit to the robotic surgery theatre for viewing of live robotic surgery.
Interactive sessions were being carried out with pediatric nephrology patients including dialysis & transplanted patients in which the patients shared their life stories & diseases experience which were of immense interest to the participants who spent quality time entertaining the children patients by indulging them in to various activities like games, storytelling, painting and singing songs etc. Very useful sessions on first aid and accident were delivered by experts from Hilal-e-Ahmar Pakistan in which the students actively participated and learned the basics.
The certificate awarding ceremonies included emotional and candid speeches by the junior & senior volunteers citing the program as a life-changing experience. The parents also shared their views on this program and termed it as a highly informative & motivating program resulting in visible positive change in their children. The participants were awarded certificates and also given gifts by SIUT. The ceremonies were largely attended by the students, their parents, teachers and staff members of SIUT including medical professionals.
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