Hamdard University, Hamdard Institute of Pharmaceutical sciences Islamabad Campus

On the internet, there is very little information about different universities of Pakistan. So before taking admission in any university we cannot tell how it will be from inside and every one (mostly according to my thinking) wants to know that how the institute will be for them as they will be passing four to five years in it. Our reviews will be focused on the departments in which we are studying so we will not be able to give an overall review of the university.




I am student of Pharm.D at Hamdard university Islamabad Campus. Its Pharmacy branch is called Hamdard Institute of Pharmaceutical sciences(HIPS). Hips is a funny name, you can take it as a plus point i guess(you will not forget the name of your institute as 'hips' is easy to remember).

Pharmacy is a field which i think is great so i wont be reviewing it here. Pharm.D is a five year program (having 10 semesters) and I have just given final papers of 2nd year(4th semester).
Now few things about Hamdard Islamabad Campus. It consists of 3 Plazas in F8 markaz, there is no cafeteria as whole F8 markaz serves as our cafeteria. It has 3 departments, HIPS, HIMS(BBA, MBA) and HIIT(engineering)
Its management sciences are good, but never think of coming in engineering, as we have heard its very bad.
(view from roof top)

HIPS occupies one and a half plazas. One plaza have laboratories and teachers offices(only of pharmacy) and in other plaza's top floor we attend our classes(that is top floor of HIMS' plaza, so we study above them), and its ground floor is also under the control of HIPS. There are approximately 600 students in HIPS.
Our admin says that university will be constructed at kuri road but we don't see it coming in next 5 or 6 years.
university starts at 8am in the morning and ends at 4pm in the evening. In between we get free time also(sometimes so much free time that you will think about killing yourself, if you don't have a girlfriend obviously). Each class is of 1 hour, and lab is of 3 hour. 4 out of 5 days a week, there is a lab each day(mostly, but it can get worst or better too). Stools in labs are very few, consider it like they are not there(because girls will obviously occupy them no mater what, but some guys also manage to get one). you will lose some weight also by running on stairs and between 2 plazas. white boards are in all classes, but teacher use them very rarely. Multimedia projector is always on waiting list. Overhead projector is always available, but very few teachers use it. There is a sports week once in a year, university takes us to F9 park for that. I prefer to remain at home during sports week.

About teachers, well some teachers are great( although few like good people are always few in this world), and study in every university is same i guess, it depends on students mostly, but a good teacher is always a bonus for knowledge seeking and a hardworking student. And after joining university, you will obviously ask your seniors about teachers, so if they say that a certain teacher is bad then consider it a good teacher, because he/she will give you tough time which will give you opportunity to sharpen your brain and shear your self for the upcoming challenges. Never take your mid-terms easily, they make 30% of final the result.

If seniors say that a teacher is good, then think that you will be able to pass his/her subject by just cramming his/her notes, and cramming the course will make you another typical Pakistani Pharmacist unable to be compared to pharmacist of the world(consider cramming as steroids in medical fields).


All teachers are helpful, they will help you which will be more then enough for you. About labs, well some labs are great, some are normal, chemistry and pharmaceutical labs are great, microbiology lab is so so, and there is no pathology lab( structure of lab is there, slide are there but apparatus of pathology lab is not present, as its very expensive, only hospitals have them, again its my thinking which may be wrong).

Now about students of HIPS. Admission in HIPS is very easy, every one can get it. Due to this reason there is great diversity of students here, mostly are not good at studies, and some are like they should have joined theater instead of pharm.D. if you are a dating type of guy then you will have no problem, you will get enough girls to date with them in university, in library, in computer lab, or you can even date in F9 park, as it is very near, dainty is the fast food hang out for dating couples with blackened glass walls. But if you are dating in maizban, then its sure short that someone knowing your parents or you will see you, because city courts are here, and due to them every type of people come here, some times there are firing cases also.
But my advise will be not to get involved in girls if you want to become something or want to do something good. They will just ruin your life, you will know this after seeing a full class of detainees.
(protest in front of university)

At first day there will be a lot of ragging also, seniors say that they will do ragging because it was done with them too, no batch is willing to forgive what happened with them, so this vicious cycle keeps on going in our university.

Lastly, about fees, fee of first semester will be between 64 thousands to 69 thousands, and from second semester fee remains between 50 to 60 thousands, but in last semester i guess they will charge again more than 60 thousand.

Update in 4th prof 1st semester: 

Campus has been shifted to Blue area Islamabad. It has become a chicken coop full of chicken poop.

I hope in 2 years I find something good in university about which I can write. 

Hamdard Institute Of Pharmaceutical Sciences Islamabad New Campus Blue Area

 

Update at start of 4th prof 2nd semester (August 12th, 2013):

Anyone reading this, and thinking of getting admission here, don't come here if you like to be at peace. There is no peace of mind here, its just a dark box filled with despair, a place which can show you the very depths of darkness. These are my own thoughts, so one should come and see the university from all sides before getting admission here. Still, most of the teachers are good here, but there is a serious problem with its structure.

Another update in 4th prof 2nd semester time (September 5th, 2013)

In Hamdard Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences Islamabad, an idea of student society has been implemented recently. A society has been established which is known as Hamdard Student Society(HSS). It is further divided into subcommittees which are assigned different tasks. In these committees students and teachers are given different designations. I haven't bothered to see its full composition. It seems like an effort to enhance friendly relationship between teachers and students by engaging them in common activities. Overall, it seems like a very good step by the university administration.
But, its Hamdard we are talking about. After standing on footpaths during free hours, spending time in congested building, running up and down for classes on forth floor and having your lunch near a fountain of human excrement makes a person very stressful, at least its stressful for me. Due to all these reasons its very hard to concentrate on the studies, so in my view the time one will give to committee related activities, should be given to studies. Teachers should also concentrate on preparing lectures instead of designing activities for students.
The only committee that i know about is the  lab committee. It is headed by three female teachers. The latest announcement of lab committee was that neither teachers nor any other staff members should get frank with any student. There should be a gap between all the people in the university (divide and rule). This proves that the one of the goals of HSS is to not to facilitate students in studies and make it feel like a prison where you can trust no one. Lab committee has also forcefully implemented grouping of students for lab activities, regardless of our own choice. And anyone questioning the orders of the warden will be spanked very seriously, this is what we have been told.
  I will write an update after seeing where the things go regarding HSS.  Lets see whether it becomes a hit student society or a horrible student society. My view is that it will become a horrible student society because its Hamdard we are talking about.    

    Following is the link to the official website of HSS;

http://www.hamdardpharmacystudentsociety.com/

Link to its facebook page is;
https://www.facebook.com/HamdardStudentSociety

Yet another update (September 23rd, 2013)

Today, we came to know that the wall between the south west hamdard(HIIT) and north east hamdard(HIPS) was broken on the weekend. It is an effort by the university administration to improve the relations between the south western and the north eastern barbarians.
Border between the two states has been opened from the roof tops also.

A  view from north east hamdard

A view from south west hamdard

Border patrol on the roof top

An illegal immigrant trying to cross the border on a fake passport.

Update in middle of 5th prof 1st semester (March 5th, 2014):

 HIPS have started M.Phil program in pharmacy practice. Pharmacy practice is a field which in my view is very non technical and is similar to MBA. So its a very good option for people who are unable to develop any scientific or technical skills during their whole Pharm-D course. And also, for those who want to work in NGOs.

End of 5th Prof 1st semester( July 9th, 2014)

Overall the semester was going good, learned a lot on my own, almost no learning at university after 3rd year. Things have became quite lame from 4th year. This semester was not that bad as 4th prof 1st semester, but its ending was sad, like a sad ending of a movie. At the end, the thing that happened, once again made me think that it would have been a lot better if I would have went to another university. The standards of this university have became quite screwed up from past 2 years. Rate of teachers' turnover is extremely high. Teachers just come and go, half of the course will be taught by one teacher and half by another in a single semester. The thing that made me depressed today was our viva of biopharmaceutics. It went very odd, I have a very good knowledge of this subject, and its one of my favorite subjects in the whole pharmacy course, but still, it seems like I got failed in it. Our external examiner was from Quaid-e-Azam university, a PhD, but he was telling us very odd things, and our own teacher was playing against us instead of supporting us. i will never forget this thing that happened today, it went like this, after general introduction.


External: what is half life?
Me: The time in which a substance reduces to half of its original amount is known as its half life.
External: So you mean if a suicide bomber blows himself up, then the time required for half of his disintegration will be his half life?
Me: (a bit surprised and confused, and after silence of 5 minutes) Suppose there's a drug, and its concentration in blood is 100mg/ml then after some time its concentration reduces to 50mg/ml, and we call this time during which concentration was reduced to half as the half life of that specific drug.
External: (makes a face like I have killed one of his relatives,)  
Me: (Confused and started to make a face like a frog)
Internal teacher: This is your condition that you can't even tell what half life is. Take your lab manual with you ( an indication that they will fail me).
Me: (Couldn't speak a word, and my face turns completely into a frog face, I was just thinking, that if its not half life, then what did I tell them just now? millions of thoughts started to run down in my mind, and volume of the outer world started to decrease.)
External: Bla bla bla bla bla. Take your lab manual and study it. Now you can go (I couldn't understand a single word what examiner was saying to me, I think he was advising about something.)

                          Almost whole viva was like this, and internal teacher complained about me to the external teacher which I cannot write here due to different reasons(quite humiliating). Its not that getting failed is a big thing, but this has just made me think that field of pharmacy in our country is in shambles because its flag bearers are like this I guess, not supporting your own people in difficult times due to personal grudges. May be I wouldn't have faced it if I had selected another university 4.5 years ago. But still that external examiner was from another university, and he was a complete idiot intoxicated with the pride of his PhD. So may be all the pharmacists are like this in our country and sadly, now I am also a part of this asshole community.
                          I am just praying that our last semester goes smoothly and this one specific teacher leaves our class alone and stops taking revenge of an unknown crime from us.

January 2nd, 2015. End of the End, End of 5thProf 2nd Semester.

                        Today was our last regular day at university. Obviously, we didn't study a word. It was a day full of emotions, the most emotional day in five years at university. Today our class arranged a final get together in the university. I was expecting it would be simple plain get together with speech of one or two classmates and a lunch, but it turned out to be something else.
                       CR asked me to go and get the lunch and I went for that along with Imran ul Haq. When we returned to the class, it was totally a different environment. It was extremely dense, made me a bit anxious. Every one was saying something on the rostrum, touching everyone's inner emotions, everything was extremely emotional and gooey. It was something that was very unexpected. In the end, almost every one was crying, those who weren't crying in real were crying from inside. It was an extremely emotional gathering.
                        This last gathering inside university, will have a very deep and extremely good impact on our batch. Today, we created very strong bonds with each other. It was an extremely nice thing that happened in the end.
                         It's the end of our life at hamdard, so is the end of this post I guess. End of five years full of ups and downs, start was not that much good for me, but end is extremely good. I still don't like my university because I am a very typical student, but the people with whom I spent 5 years, have become something very close to me. I am really happy and sad both at the same time. We are parting from each other but in a very good way, its like we will always remain connected to each other.
                         So this the end of this post I guess then.
                     

New snaps of the university

Business is flourishing in the backyards of Hamdard Islamabad

Students are enjoying breakfast in a very healthy environment

Some more students enjoying the healthiest food available in the whole Islamabad

A student talking on phone, with a smile, which was self explanatory that with whom he was talking.

Back side of university

Another picture of backside

Yet another picture of the university back side

another example that business is flourishing in the back yard of our university.

Inside this room, we go to do excellence.
( its National center of excellence in human excrement studies)

A walking trail behind university for nature lovers

Just another picture of healthy students having healthy breakfast

Here is another picture to make the viewers a bit relaxed by the calming scenery found behind our university

Wildest animal of HIPS. His bites are more dangerous than any other animal known to the mankind. when ever you see this creature, simply run for your life.

once again, the guy who is talking with a thing which spreads a smile on every guy's face.