KARACHI: Dr Rabia Anis, a Pakistani dentist and health professions educationist currently serving as Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Education at Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Health Professions Education Career Development Award (HPECDA) by the UK-based Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME).
The achievement was officially announced by ASME, marking an important milestone for Pakistani representation in international health professions education scholarship.
The ASME Health Professions Education Career Development Award is a competitive international funding initiative offering support of up to £20,000. It aims to advance educational scholarship, nurture emerging academic leadership and enable health professions educators to pursue meaningful research and career-development opportunities. The funding is designed to help educators take significant next steps in their professional journeys, including developing research projects and strengthening their academic pathways.
The award is open to individual ASME members working in health professions education at any career stage. Its flexible funding can support activities such as developing PhD applications, fellowship proposals or research grants, advancing educational innovation and scholarship, funding research assistant support for pilot projects and literature reviews, and facilitating collaboration with leading health professions educators and researchers. Applications undergo independent double marking and a structured selection process.
A graduate of Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry (LCMD), Karachi, Dr Rabia Anis completed her Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) in 2011. She subsequently earned her Master of Health Professions Education (MHPE) from Aga Khan University, Karachi, in 2024.
Her academic career includes extensive contributions to dental education at Isra Dental College, Hyderabad, where she served in teaching and academic leadership roles, including Senior Lecturer and In-charge of the Department of Health Professions Education.
Currently, at LUMHS Jamshoro, Dr Rabia contributes to postgraduate health professions education, faculty development, educational assessment, curriculum development and research. Her scholarly interests particularly focus on simulation-based education, technology-enhanced learning and improving educational practices in resource-constrained settings.
In its official announcement, ASME congratulated Dr Rabia Anis and acknowledged the significance of her proposed work in advancing empathy within clinical education.
Reflecting on the achievement, Dr Rabia Anis described the award as more than financial support, calling it an opportunity to translate an idea she deeply believes in into meaningful scholarship.
She explained that the support would enable her to explore how empathy is understood and expressed across diverse healthcare contexts in Pakistan, and how these insights could inform meaningful simulation-based education.
Her proposed work also aims to bring perspectives from a low- and middle-income country (LMIC) setting into the wider international health professions education conversation, while strengthening her doctoral research trajectory.
Dr Rabia Anis expressed hope that the research would help move empathy beyond a value recognised in healthcare towards something that can be meaningfully taught, nurtured and recognised in clinical practice.
ASME described the HPECDA as part of its commitment to providing opportunities that empower educators to excel in their academic and professional journeys. Through the award, Dr Anis joins an international community of scholars working to shape the future of health professions training through evidence-based practice and global perspectives.
This international recognition highlights the growing contribution of Pakistani dental professionals to health professions education research and reinforces the importance of supporting educational innovation and scholarship across the country's medical and dental institutions.
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