State Directorate of Medical Education marks 60 years, highlights emerging health challenges
Chennai: Health Minister Ma Subramanian, on Tuesday, took part in the diamond jubilee celebrations marking six decades of the State Directorate of Medical Education and inaugurated a medical sciences conference held as part of the event.
As the directorate completed 60 years, senior officials underlined the urgency of reorienting medical education and services towards newer health challenges, including lifestyle-related illnesses, psychological well-being, care of the elderly, and the growing influence of environmental changes on public health, reports The Hindu.
Addressing the audience, Health Secretary P. Senthilkumar emphasised the importance of future-ready medical training, calling for a shift towards skill-based learning, wider adoption of simulation techniques, increased use of digital tools, and stronger collaboration across medical disciplines for both students and practitioners.
According to The Daily, he reiterated the need to respond proactively to evolving disease patterns, pointing out that climatic variations have altered the spread of infections such as scrub typhus, dengue, and chikungunya. Citing global trends, he observed that several illnesses once limited to specific regions a decade or more ago have now expanded rapidly, assuming epidemic proportions and posing widespread challenges worldwide.
Stressing the importance of Artificial Intelligence that was emerging as a worldwide phenomenon, the minister further added, “Rapid developments are altering the way we will be dealing with disease diagnosis and treatment. We need to prepare ourselves and our students for AI and related technologies.” He placed equal importance on research and innovation. “We have a robust network of medical college hospitals. How do we make these institutions knowledge-generating centres? All these institutions need to identify protocols for local diseases, health system research, and indigenous solutions for various tropical diseases and emerging diseases,” he added.
Explaining the basic ideals that every institute should uphold, he stated, “Our institutions are public institutions, funded by taxpayers money. We need to ensure that social justice and public service are core values which are non-negotiable. We should focus on empathy, ethics and serving the underserved and inculcate in students so that we produce truly good medical, nursing and allied health professionals who display leadership, institutional integrity, and have a public service mind.”
