Maha: 3 GMCs with 300 MBBS seats to come up for 2021-22 academic year
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Mumbai: In a huge boost to UG medical seat pool in Maharashtra, almost 300 MBBS seats are going to be added with the opening of 3 new government medical colleges in the state for the 2021-22 admissions session.
The government will take over civic hospitals of Alibaug, Sindhudurg, and Satara and will set up the first-year departments. This is a major initiative from the state government because it is the first time the three medical colleges are coming up together.
As per a recent media report by TOI, the establishment of new medical colleges is a part of the state's venture to ensure that more physicians can be added to the workforce. Previously, the state also adopted several strategies like deploying fresh MBBS graduates in COVID duties and delaying the PG NEET exam to ensure the availability of a sufficient number of doctors especially as the pandemic hit the state hard.
"We have fast-tracked our plans due to Covid," Dr. T P Lahane, head of Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) told TOI adding, "In many of our existing colleges, we have additional staff, so we are asking who would be willing to go and set up these three colleges."
Times of India reports that the state has already determined the budget of rupees 2.98 crores for each college for purchasing medical equipment, accruing Rs 8.9 crore for the three colleges. Under the newly introduced regulations, titled Minimum Requirements For Annual MBBS Admissions Regulations (2020), the teaching faculty of the colleges has been rationalized. The Minimum Standard Requirements for Medical Colleges, 1999 got replaced with the new notification. While maintaining the criteria of the minimum prescribed faculty, a new provision for 'visiting faculty' has also been introduced to maintain the standard of training and education.
25 districts out of the 36 districts of the state already have medical colleges. the rest of the seven districts in the state —Hingoli, Bhandara, Gadchiroli, Buldhana, Osmanabad, Parbhani, and Washim—are yet to get a medical college of their own. Among the latest developments, one government medical college was established in Nandurbar (2020), Baramati (2019), and Jalgaon (2018).
Maharashtra University of Health Sciences in its latest perspective plan in 2017 indicated that the state has 1:1540 ratio of doctor to population, which is quite better than the national average ratio of 1:1700. However, there is a wide difference in the ratio of doctors within the state itself. The student intake capacity per one lakh population for Konkan (Mumbai) region is 2.83, for Pune region is 3.18, for Nagpur region is 4.68, for Marathwada (Aurangabad) region is 2.67, for Amravati region is 2.66 and for Nashik (North Maharashtra) region is 0.54, reports TOI.
"If more doctors are produced, out of them, at least a few may go to rural and tribal areas, and the cost of health services may get reduced," stated the MUHS perspective plan.
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