Srinagar: Bringing good news to the postgraduate dental aspirants in Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has granted recognition to Indira Gandhi Govt. Dental College and Hospital Jammu for 14 Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) seats in seven specialities.
The Health Ministry recognition comes in respect of 2 seats each in the specialities including Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Periodontology, Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge, Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Pediatric & Preventive Dentistry as well as Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology and Oral Microbiology, adds Daily Excelsior.
IGGDC is among the two Government Dental Colleges in the Union Territory of Jammy and Kashmir. The college has around 250 undergraduate students. While the college was set up in 2004, the MDS courses were introduced in the year 2020, in response to the demands from the undergraduate students.
Currently, the college has nine PG dental specialities and out of those, seven specialities have been allowed for MDS. However, efforts are underway to obtain the nod to commence MDS courses in the rest of the two specialties.
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In the past few years, the Dental Council of India (DCI) visited the college several times and inspected all the infrastructure, human infrastructure, human resources, machinery, and equipment, which is required for a recognized MDS institute.
As per the latest media report by Daily Excelsior, since the college removed all the shortcomings, the DCI after its last visit recommended to the Ministry to grant approval to the dental college for the MDS courses. Accordingly, the Ministry has given its nod for 14 MDS seats in seven specialities.
Commenting on the development, the Principal and Dean of the Institution, Dr. Rakesh Krishnan Gupta told the Daily, "This is indeed a big achievement for the Institute. It will give an opportunity to lot of meritorious and deserving BDS candidates of J&K and other parts of country to pursue their post graduation course in dentistry in IGGDC Jammu with a few thousand rupees while for the same degree, they have to pay in lakhs in private dental colleges."
He mentioned that the commencement of the MDS courses at IGGDC caters to the need of the dental fraternity in the Union Territory of J&K and it extends the benefits of their service for the public/humanity. He further mentioned that the recognition for the MDS courses will also help to improve the academics and patient healthcare in the institute.
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