Record of Sorts in Medical Education
From lone Osmania to Govt medical college in
every district
Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao
The Hans India (27-11-2022)
Telangana State,
the newest in the country, is marching ahead for creating the record of sorts
in Medical Education, when every district will be provided with a Government
Medical College, including in remote and tribal areas. An exceptional chapter
in the contemporary history of Medical Education in Telangana State, was
unveiled virtually through video conference, at Pragati Bhavan, the Chief
Minister’s Camp Office in Hyderabad on November 15, 2022.
CM KCR formally
launched commencement of classes for MBBS first year students in eight new
medical colleges in the state heralding a qualitative change in Medical
Education. With this initiative of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, medical
studies, will get a tremendous boost in Telangana. In future no student needs
to migrate either for MBBS or in due course for specialty, super-specialty and
multi-specialty studies in medicine to other states.
Prior to this, after formation of
state, four government medical colleges in Mahbubnagar, Siddipet, Nalgonda and
Suryapet were opened. With the addition of eight more government medical
colleges in Sangareddy, Mahaboobabad, Manchiryala, Jagtial, Wanaparthy,
Kothagudem, Nagar Kurnool and Ramagundam the number of government medical
colleges after formation of state touched 12 and the total colleges to 17. Tribal
concentrated Mahaboobabad and remote area Wanaparthy too got colleges which is
a unique feature.
As part of policy of one medical
college in every district, as of now 16 districts are covered including the
erstwhile Hyderabad, Warangal, Nizamabad and Adilabad and 17 more districts are
yet to be covered. There were only five government medical colleges prior to
formation of state. From there Telangana travelled to 17 government medical
colleges within a span of 8 years. A phenomenal achievement and a record of
sorts indeed! While launching, CM KCR said government nursing colleges will be
set up in all 33 districts, along with the medical colleges to produce large
number of paramedial staff.
Opening of new medical colleges means
improving the standards of healthcare facilities, better patient care services,
availability of adequate number of MBBS as well as specialty and super and
multi-specialty doctors. This enabled four times increase in the MBBS seats in
government colleges from 850 to 2790, Post Graduate seats from531 to 1180 and
multi-specialty seats from 70 to 152. Thus, ample opportunities are available
for merit students and also for Dalit, Tribal, Weaker Sections, BC and Minority
students. In the true spirit of ‘Telangana practices and the country
follow in all spheres’, here is yet another Telangana Model.
The history of Medical Education in
this part of the country, dates back to 180 years. Osmania Medical College in
Hyderabad, formerly known as ‘The Hyderabad Medical School’, was founded in
1846 by the Fifth Nizam, Afzal-ud-Dowla, Asaf Jah 5 and is one of the oldest
medical schools in the country. The Medical School was renamed as Osmania
Medical College, after the Seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. The
college is affiliated to Osmania General Hospital (OGH), one of the oldest
hospitals in India. Sources divulge that, when the Nizam became ill, probably
from diabetes, the then British Resident suggested that, he be treated with
Western medicine by Surgeon, Dr William Campbell Maclean. The Nizam recovered
fully. Impressed with allopathic medicine, he proceeded with establishment of
the Hyderabad Medical School headed by Dr. Maclean. It appears that the world's
first female anesthesiologist Dr Rupa Bai Furdoonji was graduated from here in
1889.
The second one started in Telangana
was Gandhi Medical College (GMC), originally named as People's Medical College.
GMC founded in 1954 was officially inaugurated on 25 June 1955 by the first
President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad. In 1956, the college was taken over by
the government. The College which was originally located near the present-day SD
Eye Hospital moved to Basheer Bagh and later to its present premises in
Musheerabad. Dr. Syed Nizamuddin Ahmed,
the founder of the college was its first principal. The college is affiliated
to Gandhi Hospital which was originally established about 150 years ago in 1851
to be developed into a Cantonment Hospital in 1900 and later grown to King
Edward Memorial Hospital in 1913.
The third one was Kakatiya Medical
College which was founded and was inaugurated on 23 July 1959 by the Warangal
Regional Medical Education society supported by the then CM of united AP Neelam
Sanjiva Reddy. It was originally in a building donated by the Pingale family at
Waddepally and it moved into the makeshift building constructed at the
permanent site in November 1961. The then AP Government took over the college
in February 1977.
While these three were the only Government
Medical Colleges in Telangana prior to formation of united Andhra Pradesh, two
more medical colleges namely, Government Medical College, Nizamabad (started in
2013) and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Adilabad (started in 2008)
were opened prior to formation of Telangana.
Dr S Murthy Chennapragada, a graduate and Postgraduate
from Osmania Medical College 25 years ago and now working as a Senior Lecturer
and Senior Pediatric and Interventional Radiologist in Sydney (Australia), was
on a visit to Hyderabad when CM KCR launched eight new medical colleges. He was
thrilled to see the development initiated in Telangana in Medical Education
after its formation. He expressed the view that, the plan to establish a new
medical college for every district covering rural, remote and tribal areas in
the state has a huge potential to transform the practice of medicine, in
particular that of ‘Rural medicine’.
Dr Murthy however favored couple of additions for
added benefit. To quote: ‘Many of these fresher medical colleges may be
promoted into dedicated colleges for rural medicine augmenting primary
healthcare provision to remote and vulnerable communities. Medical Students in
these colleges may be taught concepts and principles of medicine relevant and
applicable to unique healthcare needs in remote and rural areas unlike urban
health care needs.’
‘Since establishment of a medical college presumes
facility of an equally well-equipped teaching hospital for training medical
students, which is challenging, setting-up of multi-specialty Government
Hospitals in every district with adequate infrastructure (apart from the
already existing hospitals) and also qualified teaching staff commensurate to
the needs of a teaching hospital needs to be given a thought. Hence, it would
be better to affiliate larger tertiary care hospitals that are already in
existence and have well proven capacity for teaching such as Osmania, Gandhi,
MGM with multiple medical colleges so that the students can undergo in
rotations in certain departments in addition to their own local teaching
hospitals’.
‘There has been tremendous increase in tertiary
healthcare access now. However, essential need still remains in Primary Health
Care. The future Doctors coming out of these new medical colleges may be
suitably oriented to provide primary care. Towards this, these new medical
colleges may have to design the curriculum to cater to regional, rural, tribal
Medicare with emphasis on providing global healthcare standards locally. This pathbreaking
initiative would be a model for the entire country to replicate and thereby to
improve primary healthcare standards.’
In essence, increase in number of medical colleges will go a
long way as it would strengthen medical education and to revitalize the
government system of primary, secondary and tertiary health care. However, as
the majority of people’s medical requirements are basically primary, while continuing to expand
all kinds of general and spatiality hospitals, including Basti Davakhanas as well as village Davakhanas and to
reduce rush on hospitals like Osmania, Gandhi, Fever etc. it is highly desirable
to create large number of round-the-clock dispensaries or clinics. A General
Physician or an MBBS doctor assisted by a para-medic in shifts may be posted
there to provide Primary Health Care to an identified number of
people in a specified area and thus bringing back the ‘Family Doctor’
concept with a personal touch. END
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