BMC Hires 186 Doctors for DNB Teaching at Peripheral Hospitals
The BMC has recruited 186 private consultants for teaching the DNB course at peripheral hospitals while treating patients.
Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has recruited 186 private consultant doctors for the purpose of teaching the DNB course to post-graduate medical students, at peripheral hospitals, from the next academic year onward.
The newly hired doctors each have a minimum of 6-8 years of experience and they will also be treating patients at the peripheral hospitals simultaneously.
Diplomate of National Board (DNB) is a Post-Graduate Master's degree, that is awarded to Specialist Doctors in India by the National Board of Examinations, after they complete a three year residency period.
The BMC has taken this action in an effort to produce more specialist doctors and also reduce the number of critical patients that are referred from a peripheral hospital to a tertiary-care centre for treatment.
This is a major problem as statistics show that 40% patients have to be referred from peripheral hospitals to major civic-run hospitals due to unavailability of specialists.
The BMC has targeted the following 6 peripheral hospitals— Rajawadi Hospital, Bhabha Hospital in Kurla and Bandra, VN Desai Hospital, Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital.
"These doctors will be responsible for providing theoretical and practical teaching to the students. So, they will also be involved in treating the patients," said Dr Ramesh Bharmal, Dean of Nair Hospital who was part of the hiring committee.
He further stated, in candid conversation with The Indian Express, that one of the criteria for hiring the doctors was their close proximity to respective hospitals so that in case of medical emergencies, they can be called on duty immediately to attend to the patients.
While the BMC intends to produce more specialists every year with this move, it is also working on increasing the number of peripheral hospitals in the suburbs. According to Suresh Kakani, Additional Commissioner of BMC, "A 500-bedded hospital will be inaugurated in Bhandup next month. Also, a 50-bedded hospital will also come up in Chandivali, Andheri East."
