The Biosafety Program at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, was formally initiated in February 2017 with the establishment of the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC). Building upon this foundation, a credited postgraduate course on One Health (OH) was subsequently developed, approved, and officially launched in Spring 2020.
Following its inaugural offering, proponents of the OH framework conducted a comprehensive evaluation of students’ understanding and critically examined the course content, pedagogical approach, and its short- and long-term educational impact. In alignment with the collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary philosophy underpinning One Health—and in response to the emerging global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic—the curriculum and instructional strategies were systematically revised.
After extensive consultation, deliberation, and consensus-building among the founding members, a more student-cantered pedagogical model was implemented, incorporating structured academic debates to foster critical engagement with key One Health issues.
Aims of the Debate-Based One Health Teaching Approach
- To enhance interdisciplinary understanding of the One Health framework
To enable students to develop a comprehensive understanding of the collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary foundations of the One Health approach by engaging with complex health issues that intersect human, animal, and environmental domains. - To foster critical thinking and analytical skills
To cultivate students’ ability to critically appraise contemporary global health challenges—such as emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and zoonotic spillovers—through structured argumentation, evidence-based reasoning, and reflective discourse. - To promote collaborative and cross-sectoral dialogue
To simulate real-world multisectoral engagement by encouraging students from diverse academic backgrounds to articulate, defend, and reconcile differing disciplinary perspectives within a structured debate format. - To strengthen evidence-based decision-making competencies
To develop students’ capacity to identify, interpret, and synthesize scientific literature and policy frameworks to construct balanced, data-driven arguments relevant to One Health governance and practice. - To encourage active, student-centered learning and professional communication
To shift from passive knowledge acquisition to active learning by positioning students as knowledge contributors, thereby enhancing their skills in professional communication, teamwork, leadership, and respectful academic discourse.