2014: CBEC UNDERGOES FORMAL EXTERNAL REVIEW

In 2014 CBEC completed its first ten years. Dr. Moazam requested Dr. Adib Rizvi, Director of SIUT, to organize a formal external assessment of the Center’s programs and activities. An External Review Committee (ERC) was constituted including national and international scholars with expertise in areas relevant to bioethics education and research. (See Box on right) The reviewers undertook an onsite visit to CBEC from May 7-10 to meet faculty, students, and alumni. Their report to Dr. Rizvi highlighted the Center’s achievements and challenges, and included valuable recommendations for the future. (See article by Dr. Alastair Campbell, ERC member).

As part of the external review process, three individuals closely involved with the Center since its inception were also asked to submit their impressions to the ERC. Brief quotations from these are presented here.

Dr. Renee C. Fox, Medical Sociologist, Professor Emerita, University of Pennsylvania, USA:

The accomplishments of CBEC “in the course of a mere decade of existence is extraordinary.” She noted that the Center’s “knowledgeable perspective on culture(s) is one of [its] most distinctive (and in my view, exemplary) attributes. It is a perspective that is minimized or marginalized … by many other bioethics centers.” Commenting on CBEC’s educational programs, Dr. Fox stated that “there are relatively few [existing centers and programs] in which such deep-structuring learning takes place.”

Dr. Paul Lombardo, Legal Historian, Professor of Law, Georgia State University, USA:

He highlighted what he considered unique features of CBEC’s educational programs. One is the “fine balance [that] is  struck  between  didactic  teaching  …  [and]  with  the exploration of how ethical norms may be applied in the clinical setting.” This is something “programs in the West and elsewhere, fail to find …” The second is the “constant attention [given] to the religious and moral bases of ethical behavior…” and the role these personal values “play in [the] lives [of] health care practitioners.”

Dr. Judith P. Swazey, Independent Scholar, Adjunct Professor Boston University, USA:

She commented on the Center’s video series, “Local Moral Worlds,” as “excellent teaching vehicles” for “courses in bioethics and/or social sciences and medicine.” She also appreciated CBEC’s reaching out to “a wider public audience through ventures such as CBEC Forum and Ethics and Culture Hour.” While commending the “very small faculty” for its “drive, commitment, knowledge and skills” to accomplish what it had in one decade, she highlighted (as did other reviewers) the urgency of recruiting more faculty.

EXTERNAL REVIEW MEMBERS:

Dr. Richard Cash
Harvard School of Public Health, USA

Dr. Amar Jesani
Editor, Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, India

Dr. Mala Ramanathan
Anthropologist Researcher, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute, India

Dr. Alastair Campbell
Director, Centre for Biomedical Ethics, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Dr. Rizwan Azami
Vice-President, College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan

Dr. Aasim Ahmed
Chairperson, Bioethics Group, AKU, Karachi, Pakistan

Dr. Tasleem Akhtar
Professor Emeritus, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan

Dr. Asma Fozia Qureshi
Chairperson, Department of Medical Education, SIUT, Karachi