The University of Health Sciences (UHS)—the primary public medical university overseeing health education in Punjab—has introduced a centralized portal to monitor clinical education and practical assessments across the province. The new UHS digital platform, known as Health Professions Education – Progress, Research, Integrated Monitoring and Evaluation (HPE-PRIME), seeks to replace paper logbooks with real-time electronic evaluations for resident doctors.
Provincial Minister for Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Khawaja Salman Rafique formally launched the system at the university headquarters in Lahore. The initial roll-out focuses on postgraduate residency programs, bringing roughly 3,300 trainees pursuing Master of Surgery (MS), Doctor of Medicine (MD), and Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) qualifications under digital tracking. Additionally, around 1,100 designated clinical supervisors across 33 teaching facilities in Punjab will use the portal to review daily clinical entries and sign off on competencies.
Moving from paper logs to real-time clinical tracking
Under the upgraded setup, resident doctors will record their practical work, clinical case reviews, rotations, research milestones, and shift attendance through electronic entries. Teaching supervisors will evaluate clinical skills on the ground using structured assessment tools, including Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS), Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercises (Mini-CEX), and structured case discussions.
Institutional and university dashboards will aggregate this incoming data, giving administrators direct visibility into trainee progress and institutional performance. Rather than waiting for end-of-year final examinations, faculty can identify gaps in training and intervene early if a resident doctor requires additional clinical exposure.
Speaking at the inauguration, Khawaja Salman Rafique noted that improving public health facilities requires producing thoroughly assessed clinical professionals. He stated that systematic monitoring across the province's estimated 230 affiliated medical institutions will ensure reliable data and promote evidence-based decisions.
Phased expansion to cover undergraduate and allied health
UHS Vice Chancellor Maj Gen Prof. Sohail Sabir (Retd) explained that the project originated during the tenures of former vice chancellors Prof. Javed Akram and Prof. Ahsan Waheed Rathore before being fully implemented by the current administration. He emphasized that the portal transitions medical learning away from traditional record-keeping toward verified practical skills.
The university plans to roll out the PRIME platform in three distinct stages:
- Phase 1 (Current): Covers approximately 3,300 postgraduate medical and dental residents and 1,100 supervisors in 33 institutions.
- Phase 2: Will expand to 33,875 undergraduate MBBS (bachelor's in medicine) and BDS (bachelor's in dentistry) students, along with house officers across 60 colleges.
- Phase 3: Will incorporate nearly 31,734 students studying Nursing, Pharmacy, and Allied Health Sciences in 180 affiliated institutions.
By integrating learning management features and regular internal grading into the UHS digital platform, officials aim to establish uniform training standards across public and private teaching hospitals throughout Punjab.
Aasan alfaaz mein
UHS ne Punjab mein doctors aur medical students ke liye PRIME naam ka naya digital portal shuru kiya hai. Is platform ke zariye ab paper logbooks ki jagah online records mein doctors ki clinical training aur attendance dekhi jayegi. Is se postgraduate trainees ki performance directly track ho sakegi aur hospital training ka meeyar behtar hoga. Aage chal kar MBBS aur nursing ke tamam students ko bhi is digital system ka hissa banaya jayega.
