PESHAWAR: With the passing away of Prof Dr Nasiruddin Azam Khan, an era of medicine, spanning half a century, has come to a sad end.
The elderly physician breathed his last on Sunday and was laid to rest after a well-attended funeral prayers offered in Peshawar.“Starting in the sixties a galaxy of stars like Professors Raza, Zakia Minhas, Mumtaz Farooq, Feroz Shah, SAR Gardezi, Siraj Uddin, Tariq Nishtar, Mukarrram Shah, Zahir Shah, Nawaz, Alam Afridi, Shafique, Ashfaque shone with glittering light on the horizon and played their innings brilliantly. They helped develop Khyber Medical College and sowed seeds of their respective specialties. They trained the current generation of specialists - now working in different capacities in the health system in the public and private sector,” remarked Prof Dr Mohammad Hafizullah, a noted cardiologist and former vice chancellor of Khyber Medical University (KMU).
“His class, which used to be full and filled with hushed silence, would start exactly at eight on Monday mornings, and nobody could afford to be late to (not even by five minutes!). He was a master of oration with a strong command of his subject. His lectures were quite enlightening, and taking them at the beginning of the week, students would talk about them all week through. Such was his lucidity and eloquence, that his lectures still echo in our minds”.
“You are the chosen people and the best of the selected class. This should be evident from your conduct and behaviour,” he would tell doctors, many of them his students.Prof Nasiruddin Azam Khan was a widely respected and well-regarded name in the field of medicine.
“He had been a strong believer in upholding the esteem of the medical profession telling doctors to look and act like professional doctors. He had been a lighthouse of ethics in the medical practice and everyone tried hard to mold to. He may have lost much in monetary terms, but he gained a lot of respect because of that. He had been a preacher of medical ethics and had been able to set very high standards for others to follow. He had the unique distinction of being the only doctor in his class who had his private practice at his residence,” said Prof Hafizullah.
Ward rounds in his days used to be a serious affair. He recalled that his ward used to be clean and shining. The staff in the morning used to be running around like scalded cats.
“Incomplete paperwork had to be completed, investigations had to be fetched and everything had to be worked up and be presentable before the ward round. There was no question of having any attendants in the ward. It was like a Monday morning parade which was conducted exquisitely. Seniors like associate and assistant professors used to present the round, and
junior staff would try to hide behind them for any omission,” Prof Hafizullah recalled the great memories of the late Prof Nasiruddin Azam Khan.
Medicine to him was like an ibadat. He would do his rounds each morning, not missing them for any meeting or appointment, which to him were of secondary importance. He would routinely check on serious patients in the afternoon before heading home. The consultant on evening rounds had to provide a complete bed-wise report to him over the telephone”.
History-taking is the most important skill a doctor can have. All of Nasiruddin Azam Khan’s students feel proud that he had been able to inculcate this skill in them very diligently, as he taught them how to extract history from patients; his emphasis on history-based diagnosis infinitely improved our clinical skills, he added.
“His example of Hakeem holding someone’s pulse and trying to learn history and diagnose the ailment based on history continues to be quoted. He used to emphasize that it is the patient who reveals the diagnosis; hence one must listen actively to the patient,” said the known cardiologist.
“To him, academics held a high esteem. He has an in-depth knowledge of medicine with an insatiable appetite to learn more. Even till late age, he made it a priority to participate actively in all the academic activities of the province and made a positive contribution to the proceedings,” he said.
His comments, usually as a chair, were always thought-provoking and contained a clear take-home message. Behind the veil of being a strict disciplinarian, he carried a very tender heart.
“Very few people in the present age still hold on to the old traditions of love and respect. He was among the very few left of the special breed who reared love for their students and treated them like their children. He was one of the ‘most well-decorated soldiers’ in the medical community,” Dr Hafizullah noted.
He had the honour of being the Principal and Dean of Khyber Medical College, along with holding the honorary rank of Brigadier in the Army and the Physician to the President of Pakistan.
He made significant contributions to the cause of medicine as the vice president of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council. He received the Pride of Performance and deserved a lot more medals that the government could confer upon him. He had the unique distinction of being one of few doctors who was appointed as a minister in the government of the then NWFP. The list of his accomplishments is quite long, probably requiring a book to mention them.
According to Dr Hafizullah, Prof Nasiruddin Azam Khan had been a special gift to the community of medicine in Pakistan, especially to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He was a role model for many who learnt the basics of medicine and medical ethics from him. He, with his eloquence and dexterity with words, emphasized the importance of the sanctity of human life.
He infused a sense of fair play and justice in his students, proving that no force could bow his head and no worldly gain could tempt him to alter his path of right.