Nagpur: Taking cognizance of the increasing number of COVID cases in this city, the authorities of Nagpur Government Medical College (GMC Nagpur) has decided not to conduct physical classes in a full-fledged manner for the first-year MBBS students for now. The medical college has accordingly informed the National Medical Commission (NMC) about the move.
The management of GMC has planned to combine both online and physical classes for the first year medicos; while physical classes are being considered to conduct practical sessions which is a minor part of the first-year medical course, theory classes are most likely to be held online.
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The first-year MBBS and BDS classes for the academic session are supposed to start on February 2nd. The authorities decided to delay the process of resuming the classes as there will be a delay in BDS admissions. The admission for BDS will take place till January 31 this year.
"Looking at the present scenario, as a precautionary measure, it has been decided to conduct online theory classes and offline small group practical classes for the time being for first-year MBBS batch beginning from February 2, 2021," stated the recent circular issued by the medical college
Meanwhile, the authorities have written a letter to the National Medical Commission stating that they have decided to continue conducting online theory classes for the first year medicos until the pandemic situation is improved, reports Hindustan Times.
The letter states, "The present Covid-19 scenario in Nagpur is not very stable as Covid-19 cases are being admitted in government institutions. It is not feasible and safe to conduct onsite theory classes for first-year MBBS [Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery] students, especially after positive cases were revealed in some institutes in the city recently."
Previously the Directorate General of Health Sciences informed the authorities that classes for super specialty courses including Doctor of Medicine (DM) and Doctor of General Surgery along with diplomate of the national board will start from January 19th. As far as Mumbai is concerned, many of the medical colleges are likely to reopen the colleges soon.
Though in Maharashtra, most of the medical colleges affirmed that they will be conducting the offline classes as per the schedule, many of the institutions of Pune and Maharashtra have also decided to send the medicos in 7 days mandatory quarantine before resuming the classes, reports the daily.
"We might have to opt for online classes for the first week of February while our students remain in hostels for the compulsory quarantine. Once that is over, we plan to start physical classes," said an official from the admissions office of a Pune-based medical institute.