The Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Bihar’s oldest and first fully state government-run medical college among 10 in the state, got the nod for commencement of medical superspecialty courses in nephrology and neurology in its 99th year of existence, said health officials in Patna on Monday.
“Our neurology and nephrology departments got the permission on August 30 to begin superspecialty course (DrNB) with three and two seats, respectively, annually. These courses will commence from next year,” said Dr Vidyapati Chaudhary, principal, PMCH.
IIT Bombay annual placements 2023-24: Number of students placed sees a dip compared to last year
The PMCH, thus, also became the first fully state-run medical college of Bihar to get the nod from the National Board of Examination (NBE) to begin medical superspecialty course (DrNB) in any discipline. Presently, it offers three-year superspecialty programmes in surgical disciplines of neurosurgery and plastic surgery.
“We had applied last September to the National Board of Examination (NBE) for permission to begin superspecialty programme in neurology and nephrology, and got a confirmation recently,” said Dr Choudhary.
Also Read: Research should be encouraged in the education system: President Murmu
Prior to 2019, the PMCH had tried to initiate medical superspecialty course through the National Medical Commission (NMC), which awards doctorate of medicine (DM) degree to successful candidates, but did not get the approval, as it did not fulfil the manpower requirement.
“The main reason why we did not reapply for DM course last year was because the NMC stipulates to have a minimum of one professor, an associate professor, an assistant professor and one senior resident doctor in the department concerned, applying for DM course. We did not have a structured hierarchy then at the time of applying for grant of permission to begin superspecialty course last year,” said Dr Harsh Vardhan, associate professor, department of nephrology, PMCH.
“The NBE, on the other hand, requires five years post-DM experience to become a senior consultant to teach students in a superspecialty programme,” he added.
Check This: CBSE conducts surprise inspections in Delhi, Rajasthan to curb dummy schools
“Both, Dr Gopal Prasad, professor and head of nephrology department, PMCH, and I fulfill the criteria of a senior consultant. So, the NBE has allowed us two seats annually,” said Dr Harsh Vardhan.
The nephrology department, however, does not have a senior resident, as on date.
At PMCH’s neurology department, Dr Sanjay Kumar, Dr Gunjan Kumar and Dr Munish Kumar, all associate professors, have over five years of post-DM experience. As such, the NBE has granted it three seats, said a functionary, requesting anonymity. The department, however, does not have a professor, despite the experienced faculties.
“Unless we introduce superspecialty courses in our medical colleges, we will not be able to produce qualified doctors to run our superspecialty departments,” said Dr Harsh Vardhan.
The government has of late been focussing on opening superspecialty departments for patient care at the six old state-run medical colleges in Bihar. Union health minister JP Nadda is visiting Bihar on September 6 and 7 to review the progress of under-construction superspecialty hospitals under the Pradhan Matri Swasthya Surakshna Yojana.
IGIMS, AIIMS offer superspecialty courses
Patna’s Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), a state-run autonomous medical college, has 13 superspecialty programmes, with an annual intake of 33 students. It has seven surgical specialities (neurosurgery – 2 seats, urology – 4, paediatrics surgery – 2, cardio vascular surgery – 2, surgical gastroenterolgy – 3, reproductive medicine – 2 and gynaecology oncology – 1 seat) that award M.Ch degrees to doctors who pass. The remaining six are medical specialities (nephrology – 5 seats, gastroenterology – 2, cardiology – 3, clinical pharmacology – 2, neurology – 2 and critical care medicine – 3 seats), awarding DM degrees, said Prof (Dr) Om Kumar, professor and head of nephrology and dean (academics), IGIMS.
The All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna, also offers three-year superspecialty courses in 17 disciplines. Of them, eight are surgical specialities (plastic & reconstructive surgery – 6 seats, cardiothoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS) – 4, neurosurgery – 2, paediatric surgery – 2, surgical gastroenterology – 2, surgical oncology – 2, urology – 4 and trauma surgery and critical care – 2 seats) that award M.Ch degrees to successful students. The remaining nine are medical specialities (cardiology – 3 seats, clinical and interventional physiology – 4, critical care medicine – 2, gastroenterology – 2, interventional radiology – 2, neurology – 2, pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine – 6, neonatology – 2, and nephrology – 3 seats), awarding DM degrees, said Dr Gopal Krushna Pal, executive director of AIIMS-Patna.
In addition, the AIIMS also runs six-year integrated masters and superspecialty courses in four disciplines (CTVS – 4 seats, surgical gastroenterology – 2 seats, paediatric surgery – 3 seats, and trauma surgery and critical care – 6 seats), having an annual intake of 15 students, added Dr Pal.
