17/11/2025
Dr Tariq Mehmood Mian
MBBS Batch 1976-82 (2nd Batch of AIMC)
President Pakistan Academy of Family Physicians
I was really close to Prof. Dr Iftikhar Ahmad who was our principal at that time. I used to see him often in college as after my graduation, I ended up staying in anatomy department as a demonstrator for 6 years. He used to joke with the HOD Anatomy that even though Tariq is in your department, he will always turn up in my office. I used to go and meet him at night as well after both of us had just concluded seeing patients at our respective clinics. He was also the last Secretary of Health who was a doctor and such an inspiring personality. From fighting for the rights of doctors to vouching for medical students in front of external examiners whenever they got confused, he embodied everything a true medical professional should be.
Prof. Iftikhar wasn't happy with the representation of doctors at the highest level. He felt that PMA (Pakistan Medical Association) was not looking after the rights of doctors properly, so he decided to contest the election of President of PMA himself. PMA was a great organization in the 80's and 90's. It was decided that the elections would be held in Karachi. I took it upon myself to lead the campaign. From reserving the berths of over 100 people to go to Karachi to taking care of all their food and accommodation, I managed everything. Thankfully, the efforts bore fruit, and he was elected as President of PMA. Since then, he was always fond of me. He knew that if something needed to be done, he could always rely on me. I went along with him for the tour of new campus of AIMC when the site was being finalized. The current campus was one of the few places left in Lahore with a vast area that could accommodate a teaching hospital. He personally finalized the location for the construction of new campus of AIMC. He passed away in 2014, and he told his children that if you need anything in life, you can always go to Tariq. A fact that I really pride myself on.
Like most medical students, I was unsure of what I wanted to do after my graduation. Somebody told me about a dispensary that needed a doctor. I wasn't really convinced with being a doctor at a dispensary but thought that it wouldn't hurt to do so, atleast until I found something permanent. So, I used to teach anatomy during the day and sit at the dispensary during the evening. I started seeing patients there, and with time, when the number increased exponentially, I decided to start my own clinic from a single room. This eventually evolved from a single room to 2,3 rooms to eventually opening my own hospital in Lahore (Tariq Hospital) along with a few colleagues of mine.
It was around this time that I shifted my focus towards FM (Family Medicine). I realized that when a patient comes to a doctor for his ailment, he doesn't really care about the doctor's speciality. He expects a treatment regardless of the body system involved. I also wanted to be a full body doctor and didn't want to limit myself to one specific region, so I pursed FM as a speciality. I also stepped away from PMA for the time being and shifted my focus towards FAMILYCON (Family Medicine Organization). I eventually ended up as President of Familycon and have remained so for quite some time. The organization's main focus is towards prevention of diseases, especially endocrine and metabolic diseases. I can proudly say that as far as organizations go in uniting doctors under one umbrella, Familycon is the biggest one out there. Our annual conference is a highly anticipated event.
As far as life events go, spending 10 days in jail wasn't the most pleasant experience. Those were the days of martial law, in 1985, when the government introduced a new exam for the public service commission. That exam, if allowed to go through, would have been the biggest injustice to those students who had studied hard during their five years in MBBS. I, being a part of PMA at the time decided to protest this unjust exam. This obviously didn't sit well with the government at the time, and I, along with 100 senior doctors were locked up in retaliation. Even though all the senior doctors were in jail, protest at the venue of exam by young doctors on the day of the exam led to a mass boycott, and the exam was not allowed to go through. All of us doctors were eventually released, too. All in all, if I had to do it again despite knowing the outcome would be jail, I'd do it all over again.
This is episode 3 of the 4-person interview PIONEER SERIES.
Via Tayyab Ahmad – Batch ‘25
