Dr. Seemin Jamali passed away after a long battle with the cancer. She left her marks on a lot of people and also on Emergency Medicine in Pakistan. With her departure a big chapter ends in the book of Emergency Medicine in Pakistan and also at Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center. She remained part and parcel of EM in Pakistan in her capacity and also keeps on living in the hearts of countless people.
I met her the very first time in 2009, when I came back to Pakistan and started working in the Emergency Department at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan. It was the time before the dawn of Emergency Medicine in Pakistan and all of those people working in Emergency Departments across Pakistan were struggling to create space for Emergency Medicine. We were small in number and had no voice in the power corridors and decision-making quarters. Dr. Jamali was instrumental in being the strength for us all. She helped us lay the case of Emergency Medicine in all forums that she can manage. She took us to different ministries to present our case of Emergency Medicine. Although in the longer run it didn’t bore any fruits.
We managed to conduct a few conferences on Emergency Medicine in Islamabad and Dr. Jamali was an integral part of all of them. Her speech was always inspiring and with wisdom. People would come and listen to her speech. Her work at JPMC was also inspiring, as she lived the dark days of Karachi with riots and bomb blasts and killing happening on daily basis. This had resulted in plenty of pressure on emergencies with no resources to manage all those emergencies. On one of those occasions, she was also victim of the catastrophic bomb blast that happened as secondary explosion inside her Medical Center. It only resulted in her becoming more vocal and her resolve was even more strong to pursue improvement in Emergency Departments.
She was instrumental in the creation of the Society of Emergency Physicians Pakistan (SEPP) and also the Pakistan Society of Emergency Medicine (PSEM). She was also part of the struggle in the approval of Emergency Medicine for the training through College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan. She also helped JPMC get the status of training Center for the EM, and the training is ongoing. JPMC was the first public sector institution to start the training in Emergency Medicine.
I have seen her in different roles and has always been impressed by her cool demeanor and provision of un-wavering support to her colleagues and also to Emergency Medicine. I extend my profound regards and condolences to her family and well-wishers and pray to Allah to admit her in higher places in Jannat. Ameen.