From Petitioners to Professors:

From Petitioners to Professors: The Architects of Perioperative Care

In the demanding world of medical academia and public healthcare, the path to the top is rarely a straight line. It is often paved with administrative hurdles, legal battles, and years of tireless clinical duty. In the grand story of healthcare, the spotlight usually belongs to the surgical specialties. Yet, behind every successful extubation, every reversed hemodynamic crisis in the ICU, and every maintained airway during a pandemic, stands a specialized team that is always the first to arrive and the last to leave: Anesthesiology.

Dr Ahmad Butt [YDA activist/Anesthetist]: This is the untold, inspiring story of Dr. Salman Athar Qureshi and Dr. Faiqa Qurban—a visionary doctor couple at Gujranwala Medical College (GMC) and Gujranwala Teaching Hospital (GTH). They are the true architects of the anesthesia department, performing miracles with limited staff, raw clinical dedication, and sheer willpower, proving that persistence and excellence eventually triumph.

Building from Ground Zero: The "True" Ribbon-Cutting

It is one thing to join an established department; it is entirely another to build it from the ground up. When this couple assumed responsibilities at Gujranwala Teaching Hospital (GTH), they didn’t just fill vacancies; they took on the massive task of establishing the standard operating procedures, ICU protocols, and the very foundation of the Anesthesiology department.

The Pandemic Heroism: Masters of the Airway

Their foundation was put to the ultimate test by the arrival of COVID-19. As the pandemic ravaged Gujranwala, this couple became the spearhead of the frontline defense.

While many specialized units retreated, Anesthesia had nowhere to go. Anesthesiologists are, by necessity, masters of the difficult airway, mechanical ventilation, and acute respiratory distress management—the professionals closest to the viral load during intubation. Leading a courageous team of postgraduate residents and Medical Officers, this couple worked round-the-clock. They didn't just monitor the ventilator settings; they lived in the ICUs.

Eyewitness accounts describe how they refused to leave the facility until the very last patient was hemodynamically stabilized and safely oxygenated.

Doing the Impossible: One Staff, Two Hospitals

Post-COVID, they faced extreme systemic personnel shortages and a bureaucratic nightmare: the vital departments (Operation Theaters and ICUs) of two separate hospitals needed to be run efficiently, but the system had only authorized the staff of one hospital.

Through smart triage and team management, they optimized, multi-tasked, and logistically managed both facilities with their single, dedicated team. They essentially doubled the surgical output and the accessibility of critical care services for the citizens of Gujranwala without compromising patient safety.

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The First Surgery at GMC: Administering a Dose of Calmness

For Dr. Salman, the true inauguration of a hospital doesn’t happen with VIPs and red ribbons; it happens in the operation theater. A legendary anecdote from the opening of the new GMC Teaching Hospital building perfectly captures this.

When the Gynecology emergency section was just starting, the nervous surgical team was preparing for the facility's very first procedure. It was Dr. Salman who practically "cut the ribbon" by stepping up to administer the right dose of calmness. Before the surgery, he personally counseled the anxious patient and the family, calming their preoperative anxiety. With a priceless sense of pride and warmth, he told them:

"Listen, be proud—your child is the first baby to be born in this new hospital building. Have you finalized a name yet?"

That single moment—inaugurating a massive healthcare facility not with a speech, but with a spinal needle, regional block efficacy, and the birth of a child—reflects his deep emotional connection to his workplace and his patients.

The Bitter Pill: Dedication Met with Apathy

One would assume that such extraordinary clinical service would be met with administrative support. Tragically, the opposite was often true. Their department was continuously neglected by different hospital administrators. Instead of receiving support to address the severe shortage of doctors and the resulting extreme workload, they were often penalized by bureaucratic apathy because their staff numbers were low.

The Legal Battle for Justice (2023)

This lack of support eventually threatened their career progression, leading to a critical juncture in November 2023. At that time, both Dr. Salman and Dr. Faiqa were serving as Assistant Professors of Anesthesia. The Punjab government had issued advertisements for direct recruitment of Associate Professors, which threatened to bypass the established two-third promotion quota for existing faculty.

Calling upon his early YDA activist spirit, Dr. Salman refused to let their years of sacrifice be sidelined. The couple, along with other colleagues, took the matter to the Lahore High Court. They argued that their fundamental rights and the standing service rules of 1979 were being violated. The court, recognizing the merit of their plea, issued a stay order—a move that protected the career paths of countless specialized doctors across the province, Dr Adnan Yousuf [Chairman YDA Gujranwala]

The "Full Circle" Moment (2026)

Fast forward to 2026, and the story has shifted from struggle to success. It is an achievement that was deliberately kept humble, much like the role of an anesthetist who quietly maintains the delicate balance of life behind the surgical drape.

Both Dr. Salman Athar and Dr. Faiqa Qurban have been promoted to the rank of Professor (Grade 20) simultaneously.

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A Legacy That Cannot Be Ignored

Despite the administrative obstacles and the crushing workload that forced them to juggle operations across two hospital sites simultaneously, this couple refused to lower their clinical standards or abandon their patients. For the residents of Gujranwala and the medical fraternity at GMC, this success story highlights several key lessons:

• Resilience Pays Off: Standing up for professional rights through legal and ethical channels leads to long-term success.
• Academic Excellence: Having Grade 20 Professors leading the Anesthesia department ensures a higher standard of postgraduate training for future specialists and superior perioperative care for patients.
• Inspiration for Youth: For young medical students and residents, this couple serves as a living example that clinical hard work, when paired with the courage to face systemic challenges, leads to the highest honors.

Congratulations!

Their legacy is not found in administrative praises or awards from bureaucracy; it is the fully functional Anesthesia Department that now exists because they willed it into being. Their legacy is the countless lives their team saved during COVID-19, the residents they trained, and that very first baby born under their regional anesthesia block in the new GMC building.

Dr Umair Ikram [General Secretery PMA Gujranwala]:The journey from being "aggrieved petitioners" in a 2023 Dawn news report to being celebrated as "Professors" in 2026 is the ultimate success story. It is a victory for Gujranwala, and an inspiration for every doctor in Pakistan striving for merit and justice.

A Legacy of Activism and Leadership

Dr. Salman’s drive is deeply rooted in his heritage. He keeps alive the spirit of his late father, Prof. Muhammad Athar Qureshi, who was a known activist and later an esteemed educationist from the Sahiwal region. Channeling this legacy, Dr. Salman served as a prominent young doctor in the Young Doctors Association (YDA) during various movements while completing his postgraduate training in Lahore. To this day, he remains famous among the younger generation of doctors for his sharp management and administrative skills—a strength that would soon be tested in Gujranwala.