MY daughter, who has recently completed her BS in Medical Imaging Technology (MIT) from a public-sector medical university in Lahore, came to know about a two-year ‘extensive’ training programme in Radiology at a famous private-sector university hospital in Karachi. The training programme promised professional grooming with a possibility of job, subject to availability.
It was not easy to travel all the way to Karachi from Sialkot, where we live, to appear for the aptitude test, but we did for the sake of a better, more professional future for our daughter. Unfortunately, the first disappointment came when we reached the premises about an hour before the test to find there was no waiting area. We stood outside the office.
Cutting a long, miserable story short, my daughter qualified the test and a week later, she was asked to appear for an interview. This time, I sent her alone to make it less expensive. She appeared before a panel of four interviewers who laid bare before her the details of the training programme. It was more of a trap than an opportunity. She was told that financial assistance was meagre and non-negotiable. Accommodation was not possible. And, worst of all, the training would focus on the basics, not on the promised professional grooming. There was a huge penalty for leaving the programme at any stage. Finally, the chances of employment at the end of the training were all but non-existent. This was frustrating.
Obviously, my daughter realised that it was not the best opportunity for her, and declined. The family realised that the institution had played a cruel joke by being deceitful while finalising its advertisement copy. Indeed, it may be a famous university hospital, but it is surely not professional in terms of its conduct.
FAISAL MEHMOOD
SIALKOT
