Goa: The Goa Medical College is seeking the apex medical regulator's approval to grant it permission to begin 10 super speciality courses.
The medical college had reportedly applied to the Medical Council of India (MCI), however, with the recent dissolution of the erstwhile regulator by the National Medical Commission (NMC), it is clear that the action on the application will be taken by the NMC only.
The three-year duration doctorate of medicine (DM) courses GMC plans to start are cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, neurology, neurosurgery, paediatric surgery, plastic surgery, nephrology, urology, cardiac anaesthesia and endocrinology.
The regulator authorities will conduct necessary inspections to confirm whether the college has the potentiality to hold super speciality courses. Once the permission is granted, these courses will be introduced in GMC from the academic year 2021-22 if possible.
Also Read:Learning of medicos affected severely: Delhi doctors demand delisting medical colleges dedicated as COVID facilities
GMC presently has 118 postgraduate and 180 MBBS seats. According to a recent media report by TOI, the college authorities had earlier sought MCI's permission to start a DM in cardiology two years ago, however, the request of the college was not granted by the regulatory body as they found that the institute is yet to meet all the requirements for that. Now the institution has made significant improvements in its infrastructure and is already to start super speciality courses.
Doctorate of Medicine courses which GMC plans to start is a 3-year duration course which will allow the Goa students to pursue their post-graduation Medical study to become specialist inside their state. The 10 departments planned to have super speciality courses include cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, neurology, neurosurgery, pediatric surgery, plastic surgery, nephrology, urology, cardiac anaesthesia, and endocrinology, reports TOI.
GMC Dean Dr. SM Bandekar stated, "we have applied to the MCI to allot two seats each for 10 super speciality is in our college. We hope to introduce the new courses from the next academic year if permission is granted. It will be our one of the biggest achievements." He further added that Due to lack of these courses in Goa, our students have to go elsewhere if they wish to pursue these DM courses."
Times of India reports that a super speciality block with 500 beds for the Goa Medical College might also be commissioned in the next quarter of 2021. This block will allow the College to fulfil the necessary requirements for infrastructure and other facilities that a Medical institute needs. Hence it will satisfy the conditions propelled by MCI for starting new teaching courses. The MCI inspection is most likely to take place in April 2021 according to the dean. One of the officials stated that GMC started the department of cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery six years ago and the department was kin to start super speciality courses in both of them. However, the process remained pending due to several issues.
Goa Medical College is one of the oldest Medical Colleges in Asia. The medical college, besides striving to achieve excellence in patient care has been instrumental in training a number of medical students. With the new super-speciality block coming up if the college is granted permission for super speciality courses, it will provide significant improvement in health care services in the state.