New PG course for general physicians from July 10

Saturday April 19, 2008

Published in The Sunday Express

There is a severe shortage of general physicians in the country who are well acquanted with the modern medical technology and research developments, said Atanu Kumar Jana, associate director of the Christian Medical College, Vellore.

Dr. Jana was in the city to launch a distance education programme -- Post Graduate Diploma in Family Medicine.  He said the lack of access to modern technology and research force the general physicians to refer even simple cases to private hospitals.

"The diploma course we have introduced is an attempt to upgrade the skills of the general physicians and to enable them to handle more cases," he said.

Ten hospitals have been selected around the country where the two-year programme will be introduced.  Mercy Hospital in Kolkata is among them.

In Kolkata, out of 37 applicants for the course, 25 have been selected from West Bengal, Jharkhand and Mizoram.  The course curriculum consists of 75 modules and three 10-day contact classes in Mercy Hospital each year.

The Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore receives a minimum of 25,000 patients every week, one-third of these are from Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Bangladesh.  According to Dr. Jana:  "Many of these patients have diseases that are easy to cure but their doctors still referred them to the hospital.  When they come to us they have poor financial conditions as by that time they spend everything while trying to get effective treatment."

CMC plans to gradually take these programmes to the remote corners of the country.  Sanjay Prasad, CEO of Mercy Hospital, said:  "70-75 percent of the patients who go to South India for treatment belong to Tier II and Tier III economic categories.  This course will generate enough skilled doctors to treat these weaker sections in their hometowns."

Dr Jana stated:  "It is extremely distressing to see people spend money on hospitals in South India rather than seek medical help in West Bengal itself."

The course has already been running successfully in CMC Vellore, St. Stephen's Hospital in Delhi and Bangalore and Baptist Hospital in Bangalore for the past one year.  Slated to begin in Kolkata from July 10, the course is certified by CMC and Indira Ghandi National Open University.