Abbottabad, the capital city of Hazara division, is not only famous for its scenic beauty but also for some excellent professional and educational institutions like the Pakistan Military Academy, Army Burn Hall School and College, Abbottabad Public School and College, Pakistan International Public School, and College, the Iqra Academy, etc. The establishment of Ayub Medical College in August 1978 added another feather in its cap.
The historical opening of the first academic year was held on May 15, 1979, with the enrolment of 100 students. It was first established in a building provisionally acquired from the education department and then moved to its present new site located on Karakorum Highway (Mansehra Road) on December 30, 1990. From 1979 to date the College has undergone tremendous development. The College has spacious lecture halls with sophisticated audiovisual teaching aids, well-equipped laboratories, museums, and a centrally air-conditioned library having textbooks, journals, Medline CD-ROM, and an audiovisual section. Plans to computerize the college and hospital are in the offing, so as to be able to modernize not only record-keeping and patient data access, but also to enable computer-based medical education using the Internet and offline facilities. A computer network library with 20 workstations for students and staff has already started functioning as the first phase of the AMC network.
The DHQ (District Head Quarters) Hospital Abbottabad remained affiliated to Ayub Medical College for teaching for a period of 18 years. Now all the clinical departments have shifted to the newly constructed buildings of Ayub Teaching Hospital, which has all the general clinical disciplines like Medicine, Surgery and allied subspecialties, Gynaecology & Obstetrics, Ophthalmology, ENT, Radiology, Oncology, and Critical Care Units, Pathology Laboratories, etc.
The basic and clinical disciplines maintain a high standard of education with modern equipment and highly competent teaching staff assuring superior training and patient care.
In order to provide dental education and better dental health facilities to the people of this region, the Department of Dentistry at Ayub Medical College has been upgraded to the College of Dentistry for BDS classes. A class of 24 students was admitted in 1999. The college will provide improved facilities of dental & facio-maxillary surgery besides training and teaching of students for the degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery from the University of Peshawar.
Over a period of 40 years, Ayub Medical College has grown into one of the largest, well established, and reputed medical institution of the country, which has earned fame both at national and international levels through its alumni. The first batch of its medical graduates passed out in 1984 and by the end of academic session 2018, about 6626 doctors had graduated from this institution. They are now serving their fellow countrymen or studying for the achievement of higher goals in medical fields inside the country or abroad.
The College has previously been affiliated with the University of Peshawar and Hazara University. Currently, it is affiliated with Khyber Medical University, Peshawar. It is fully recognized by the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), General Medical Councils of UK and Ireland, WHO, and many reputed medical councils of the world. The College of Physicians & Surgeons of Pakistan (CPSP) has already recognized many of its departments for postgraduate training; the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists of the UK has granted recognition to the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology for clinical training of the candidates who wish to take MRCOG in the UK.
Besides medical education and training of health personnel the Institution considers research an integral part of its functions. All basic and clinical departments are actively encouraged to undertake a few research projects each year. The Pakistan Medical Research Council (PMRC) established a Research Centre in 1981 at the college and maintained it until early 2002. It conducted medical research, provided facilities, and assisted in organizing research projects on local and national health problems. Large numbers of research projects have been completed in collaboration with WHO, UNICEF, medical faculty and students of the college.
The College has been publishing its scientific journal, ‘Journal of Ayub Medical College’ (JAMC) since January 1988. It has gained its place as a Standard Medical Journal, recognized by the PMC, registered with the International Serial Data System of France, and Indexed and abstracted by Index Medicus of WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO). It has been indexed with the Index Medicus, Pubmed, and Medline, and is the 2nd of the few medical journals available online from Pakistan and the only Pakistani Medical Journal available FULL TEXT with illustrations FREE online at:
http://www.jamc.ayubmed.edu.pk
To develop a healthy mind in a healthy body, students are encouraged to participate in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities such as literary, sports, religious, cultural, and other welfare activities. The sports programs include indoors, outdoors, individual and collective activities. Our students are also exposed to fieldwork in the rural areas as part of their training in the community right from their first year. Educational tours and medical camps are organized by the specialists and students in the far-flung areas of the region where basic health facilities are lacking.
