Renowned Urologist Dr Rajeev Sood takes charge as Vice-Chancellor of BFUHS

Chandigarh: Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) in Faridkot has now got a new Vice-Chancellor in Dr Rajeev Sood, senior Urologist and also a member of the National Medical Commission (NMC).

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit Tuesday appointed Dr Rajeev Sood, who has now filled up the post that became vacant in August last year following the resignation of Dr Raj Bahadur.

Dr. Sood has been appointed for three years, with effect from the date of his assumption of office. Earlier, he has been the dean of PGIMER, Delhi for five and a half years and also the Founder Dean of ABVIMS & Dr. RML Hospital.

With extensive experience spanning 40 years in medical practice, his teaching experience includes 26 years Post MCh and 12 years as a professor. He graduated from Maulana Azad Medical College in Delhi and cleared MS (General Surgery) from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and PGIMER in Delhi and subsequently did MCh (Urology) from AIIMS Delhi.

Previously, he has been attached to the Parliament as Uro Consultant for 10 years and has been for five years the Uro Consultant to the President of India. He also received the prestigious B C Roy National Award 2017 in medicine and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam National Dedication Award 2020 for services in the field of medical professionals.

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When asked about his priorities and the changes that he aims to introduce as the Vice-Chancellor of BFUHS, Dr. Sood told Medical Dialogues, "This is not a position of power, this is a position of opportunity and what I am planning is to ensure that any institute adheres to the norms regarding its infrastructure, manpower and also expectations, goals, and timelines. My priorities are to identify the loopholes and to pluck them to start with."

"We have to understand what is happening and also what we all are lacking. After that we have to concentrate on education, technology integration and we also have to find out any lacking points and understand what how we can integrate data generation, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality and all these modern tools. Further, aspects such as telemedicine- how they can be integrated to the education of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and any other allied discipline," he added.

"Everything should go hand in hand, so that our University becomes the number one university- that will be our goal and I have been given the opportunity of three years. So, this all is to be pursued. I have the experience to do that and I expect that I will be able to implement that," he further mentioned.

Addressing the issue of the derecognition of many medical colleges, he added, "My role is to see. I am in NMC also and now in the BFUHS also. With my experience, I will see to it to ensure that everything is expedited in those medical colleges or institutes otherwise also, in nursing and paramedical colleges. My job will be to ensure that all the deficiencies are removed immediately with the help of the local government, the Centre and the Commission."

When asked about his message to the freshers joining the University, Dr. Sood added, "Anybody joining the institute, he/she should have the goal in mind that he/she is not only pursuing the education and training they are also working as an alumnus of the institute and making that institute number one by hard work, integration of modern technologies and also generating the scientific data as perfectly done as possible."

PTI adds that the post of BFUHS Vice-Chancellor became vacant in August last year following the resignation of Dr Raj Bahadur after he was “humiliated” at the hands of minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra. The former vice chancellor had alleged that he was forced to lie on a dirty mattress at a hospital by the state’s health minister.

In July last year, Jouramajra had come under fire from several quarters after he was seen forcing Dr Bahadur to lie on a dirty mattress at a hospital. After Dr Bahadur resigned, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had announced the appointment of noted cardiologist Dr Gurpreet Singh Wander as BFUHS’s vice chancellor, however, Banwarilal Purohit, the chancellor of the universities in the state, had declined to clear the name of Wander and had sought the AAP government to send a list of three names.