Dr Achal Gulati takes charge as VC of Mahatma Gandhi University of Medical Sciences & Technology, Jaipur

Former President of the National Medical Commission's (NMC) Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB), Dr. Gulati, took charge as the VC of Mahatma Gandhi University of Medical Sciences & Technology around four days back. He has also served as the Director of Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research, New Delhi, and was the founder Director Principal of Dr. BSA Medical College & Hospital. He was appointed as the President of NMC in 2020 and was looking after the Ethics Board till May 2022.

He is a fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, the International Medical Science Academy, and a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Otolaryngology & Head & Neck Surgery. Dr. Gulati has all-round varied interests ranging from professional excellence in the field of Head and Neck Surgery and Endoscopic Sinus Surgery to the field of Medical education.

When asked about his priorities and the changes that he aims to introduce as the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr. Gulati told Medical Dialogues, "There are many departments and most of which are running Broad and Super-Specialty programs. So, it is already a well-run established university. But then, nothing is constant and we dynamically need to think out of the box and take it further much beyond its existing frontiers."

"The aim of an institution is not just to educate, but also to create, inspire and nurture the human spirit. The need is to develop and achieve leadership in each discipline and constituent college, strengthen interdisciplinary studies and knowledge, and pioneer new fields of learning with an eye to the future, introducing new value-added courses, developing the core competencies, create optional academic and career enhancement opportunities across the diaspora of the university, focusing specifically on the Attitude, Ethics, Communication skills and competency-based curriculum, problem-solving, developing leadership and interpersonal skills; and personal health and well-being would be not only in line of the NMC guidelines but also the NEP 2020 and are an integral part of my vision for MGUMST," he mentioned.

"If we look at it from the National perspective, we have our "Skill India" mission. One of the primary aims here is to establish a health sector for Skill Development. Medical science is a hands-on approach applying the mind, body, knowledge and skills in a coordinated manner and the aim is to achieve zero error in its application in all spheres. There should be minimum errors in the learning curve. So, we need to have a phased training programme in which we have simulators, we have training forces, hands-on experience, skilling, medical education teaching & technology labs, computer-aided learning labs etc. Today, skilling is one of the most important areas that I need to focus upon for the university," Dr. Gulati further added.

"The second important issue is integrated medicine. India is a pioneer in traditional medicine which developed in the early ages. Integrated Medicine just does not mean integrating the AYUSH with other systems components, but it also means the need to bring in the concept of evidence based integrated medicine and research. Each system of medicine has its own qualities and strengths, and it is these that need to be further developed in their independent spheres in a systematic evidence based manner, and then try to augment and take forward these systems where possible and integrating them amongst each other if, and wherever possible," he said.

Further explaining his vision, Dr. Gulati mentioned, "Medical entrepreneurship is another area that I would focus upon. So, the aim will be to focus on medical entrepreneurship through the Ph.D programmes by integrating engineering and medical sciences and other basic medical and social sciences. These branches need to be integrated with medicine because a lot needs to be developed in collaboration and a lot of the management techniques need to focus upon this for progress."

"Today we have to look towards Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Tools for developing various modules for management and diagnosis and research. And this is one very important area that I definitely need to look into, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and this will be a thrust area for me to dwell upon. It is still in the developing stage, and it is going to be a race to the top with these in time to come. Tie-ups with IITs, NITs, other institutes of national importance, having international tie-ups & collaborations, exchange programmes and MOU’s etc. are vital, which I shall pursue with zeal" he further added.

Also Read: Delhi: GB Pant Hospital finds a new Director in Renowned ENT Surgeon Dr Achal Gulati

Dr. Gulati further mentioned that another important but touchy issue is Ethics and Regulations. Commenting on this, the former president of the NMC Ethics Board added, "Ethics is an issue that is generally overlooked in our medical education but which is vital in the given circumstances. This has also been emphasized by the NMC and my aim would be “Catch them young and train them in their Ethics while they are young”. So development of Ethics principles is another area that will be my focus during my tenure. Thrust towards Early Clinical Exposure, Family Adoption Programmes, District Residency Programme, CBME, Faculty Development, Research thrust areas, digitization processes across the board, digital evaluation techniques etc. will be augmented further as per the NMC guidelines."