Prof. Naeem Aon Jafarey is an icon in the field of Medicine in Pakistan. We feel Pakistan has suffered a huge loss with the demise of Prof Jafarey and the only way to reduce this loss is for a number of professionals to continue with his wisdom and vision and develop more institutes and experts to carry on the work which he did for over half a century.
He has been teacher of hundreds of health care professionals in Pathology as well as Medical Education and is considered a legend in this country in these fields. Among his major emphasis were to design the medical curriculum to meet the need of the common man by giving due weightage to the common ailments, by increasing focus on developing good general practitioners, which he stressed are the backbone of the health care system, and community based education.
May Allah SWT grant him the best reward for his selfless work to improve the health care system in Pakistan Ameen.
PROF NAEEM JAFAREY: a profile
Prof. Naeem Aon Jafarey graduated from King Edward Medical College Lahore in 1955 and completed house job at Mayo Hospital Lahore. After a brief involvement in a research project, he moved to the US and worked at New York’s State University’s Kings County Hospital between 1959 and 1963. After obtaining the certification of The American Board of Pathology, he returned to Pakistan.
In 1964 he joined the department of Pathology of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Karachi from where he retired in 1989 as Professor of Pathology. He was also one of the founding members of the Basic Medical Sciences Institute of the JPMC.
Prof Jafarey’s main contribution and identification has been in the field of Medical Education. In 1974 when WHO initiated its programme in Medical Education and Teacher Training in Pakistan, he was selected as a member of the team of National Facilitators and then as a group of Fellows of the CPSP which set up the National Teacher Training Centre at the College in 1978. After retirement from JPMC, he became involved in medical education on a full time basis.
He was the founding Vice Chancellor of Ziauddin University Karachi since 1995 and retired in 2003, after which he continued as the Adviser for Academic Affairs to the university.
Prof Jafarey has over 130 publications and has contributed chapters to 2 books. His major research work has been on Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity.
