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Showing posts from October, 2015

AIIMS faculty slams order defining duty hours

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The Faculty Association of AIIMS (FAAIIMS) on Tuesday slammed a recent circular which defines the general duty as 9.30 a.m to 5.15 p.m, saying it would lead to curbing working hours instead of increasing. The circular was issued on October 9 by the computerisation committee of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. A senior doctor at AIIMS and a member of FAAIIMS explained that work in many departments starts well before 9.30 a.m. The operation theatre (OTs) normally starts work by 8 a.m. and Out Patient Departments (OPD) by 8.30 a.m. "The faculty members don't go for lunch unless they are done with their patients. In such a situation what is the relevance of bringing out such a circular," he asked. In an earlier statement, the FAAIIMS stated: "It is such a ridiculous circular, that mentions that faculty to come at 9.15 a.m and leave by 5.15 p.m. Most of the faculty and paramedical staff come at 8 a.m. and in several departments, out patient servi

SRU Chennai PG notification 2016

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Entrance exam on 6th December 2015 at SRU Chennai.

PGI to conduct online entrance for MD/DM

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If things go as planned, PGI will be the second research and medical institute in the country to start online entrance for MD/DM course after Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, from the 2017 session. For the 2016 session, the forthcoming exam on December 20 will be the last paper-based entrance examination. Twice a year, around 7,000 candidates appear for the entrance. The decision is fallout of the MD/DM entrance exam cheating racket exposed by the CBI in 2012. The PGI administration had then decided to forgo the paper examination to ensure transparency. But the process took a few years before the administration finalised it. "The same pattern as JIPMER can be followed here," said a senior official. The online test evaluation will be similar to the GRE entrance, which will get locked soon after the time is over. The PGI has already started accepting online form application and payment for the test. After 2

'Garba' in Gujarat hospital ICU

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Taking a leaf out of superhit Bollywood movie "Munnabhai MBBS", the medical and non-medical staff of a hospital here played 'garba' in full swing inside the intensive care unit, sparking all round outrage, officials said on Tuesday. The 'garba' was performed on Monday afternoon at the Sola Civil Hospital where Health and Finance Minister Nitin Patel inaugurated a new kidney dialysis centre. After he left, the hospital staff erupted into a spontaneous 'garba' to the accompaniment of loud music, celebrating the spirit of the ongoing navratri festival - albeit at the wrong venue at the wrong time. As the young male and female doctors, many in their white overcoats, uniformed nurses, wardboys and wardgirls joined the dance and went around taking 'rounds' of the ICU, the shocked patients and their relatives kept watching dumbfounded. Worse, many of the dancers were wearing shoes and slippers, which is barred as per ICU norms, creating

Finance and Health Ministers address 43rd Convocation of AIIMS

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The country is in need of more medical colleges to meet the growing need of doctors and other para medics in the country, which is quite inadequate at present. The country is capable of producing huge talent of human resources in the medical field, and we need to expand quality medical institutions and medical colleges in the country. This was stated by Shri Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting during his address at the 43rd Convocation of AIIMS, New Delhi, here today. Shri Jaitley also stated that there is a need to look into the policy on organ donation to learn from the best practises across the world, in the Indian context, and without commercialising it. The Finance Minister stated that people in the country, in their dire need, look towards AIIMS for their health care needs, and this places an onerous responsibility on the Institution to be the best and excel in face of the challenge of catering to the health needs o

Maharashtra PGM-CET 2016 Notification

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Maharashtra PGM-CET and PGD-CET 2016 will be held on 24th January 2016 . Further Information in this regard will be notified in due course of time in the newspaper and website www.dmer.org

Staff deaths at leading hospital put India's TB battle in spotlight

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A security woman stands guard outside the Group of TB Hospitals in Mumbai, September 28, 2015. REUTERS/DANISH SIDDIQUI/FILES Campaigners and a former official overseeing Asia's largest tuberculosis hospital in Mumbai say staff deaths there are being under-reported, highlighting India's growing struggle to contain multi-drug resistant forms of the contagious, airborne disease. Many of India's toughest TB cases end up in the metal cots of the state-run Sewri Hospital, where on a recent Reuters visit open wards were lined with emaciated patients, many left alone by families scared by the disease and its stigma. Medical Superintendent Rajendra Nanavare, Sewri's top doctor, says an average of six patients a day die at the 1,200-bed hospital. Nanavare says a dozen hospital workers had also died from TB in the last five years. But others say the real number of staff deaths is higher - although they could not give a precise figure - pointing to a public heal

Resident doctor made to taste food before Indrani Mukerjea ate

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The medical fraternity in  Maharashtra  is mulling to move the State Human Rights Commission over the reports that doctors at JJ hospital here were allegedly made to taste the food before serving it to Indrani Mukerjea, prime accused in  Sheena Bora murder case, during her recent hospitalisation. According to Dr Lalit Kapoor, a medico-legal expert of the Association of Medical Consultants, the medical fraternity has taken a serious note of such practices, which it considers as "inhuman and insulting." "It is very inhuman and insulting...such practices should be stopped not only with regard to doctors but no human being should be told to carry out such acts. In this regard, a complaint will be filed in a day or two with the State Human Rights Commission," Kapoor said. The issue came to light after a section of media reported about the "humiliating" practice the doctors allegedly underwent while Indrani was hospitalised at the state-run hospital for su

Cabinet okays setting up of three new AIIMS

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The Cabinet on Wednesday approved proposals for setting up three new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Nagpur (Maharashtra), Manglagiri (Andhra Pradesh) and Kalyani (West Bengal) under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY) at a cost of Rs 4,949 crore. Each of the proposed AIIMS will have a hospital with a capacity of 960 beds along with a teaching block, administrative block, auditorium, nursing college, night shelter, hostel and residential facilities. These institutes will also have a separate block for traditional system of medicines - Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. "Setting up of these AIIMS will address regional imbalances in availability of affordable and reliable tertiary healthcare services in these regions. It will augment the facilities of quality medical education and will also address the shortfall of healthcare professionals in these regions," health minister Piyush Goyal said. Of the total expenditure

Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to 3 Scientists for Parasite-Fighting Therapies

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The winners of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine have been announced. This year, the honor is being jointly shared by  William C Campbell and Satoshi ÅŒmura and by Youyou Tu. Ireland’s Campbell is, currently, a Research Fellow Emeritus at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, US while Japan’s Omura is Professor Emeritus at Kitasato University, Japan. They won the award for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites. China’s Youyou Tu is  Chief Professor at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has won the Nobel for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria. Declaring the Prize winners, the Nobel committee issued a press release which stated- ‘Diseases caused by parasites have plagued humankind for millennia and constitute a major global health problem. In particular, parasitic diseases affect the world’s poorest populations and represent a huge barrier to improving human health

Common entrance test for MBBS, PG courses gets MCI nod

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The Medical Council of India (MCI) has given its nod to the proposal for holding common entrance test for MBBS, BDS and post-graduate medical courses, and has sent its recommendation to the Health Ministry. “MCI, in its general body meeting on October 1, has backed the proposal. As per the existing policy, every State government conduct their own entrance test. Private medical college associations and deemed universities also conduct their own CET. And an aspiring candidate appears in all the exams. “But here under the proposal, there will be a common entrance test for all medical aspirants from across the country and would be of great help to the students,” said a senior Health Ministry official. The MCI has also proposed an amendment to the Medical Council of India Act, 1956 so that they can decide on the common test. The Supreme Court, in June 2013, had ruled the MCI’s notification for holding common entrance test for MBBS, BDS and post-graduate medical courses as “inv

ESIC wasted Rs 10,000 cr by starting 22 medical colleges: CAG

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The labour and employment ministry-controlled Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) frittered away about Rs 10,000 crore in setting up 22 medical colleges, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has observed in a report on the government agency. The Special Audit of Medical Education Projects of ESIC report is in its final stages and is expected to be tabled in the next Parliament session. A top government source said the exit conference procedure, where the ESIC was provided an opportunity to discuss the audit findings and to clarify any likely doubt, is also complete. The colossal waste of public funds is also because the ESIC diverted from its core mandate of providing medical services through its network of ESI hospitals, dispensaries and diagnostic centres, and instead focused on setting up medical colleges, the CAG has pointed out. The report said the wrong selection of sites for the colleges resulted in the facilities and expensive equipment lying unut

Medical monitors get SC warning

The Supreme Court has warned medical education regulators with contempt proceedings as well as a CBI inquiry for repeatedly defying directions from the apex court, high courts and the central government. A two-judge bench was peeved that the Medical Council of India, Dental Council of India and the Veterinary Council of India had repeatedly ignored court and government directives to carry out inspections of colleges affiliated to them. A government renews (or grants) the recognition of a medical, dental or veterinary college only on a recommendation from the regulator. Many of the colleges have moved court saying they are in danger of losing their recognition because the regulator isn't conducting an inspection, thus delaying the recommendation process. "After hearing many similar matters involving the issue of grant of renewal or permission where Medical Council of India, Dental Council of India and Veterinary Council of India are one of the parties, we have taken