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Medical Voice 11th September 2019

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Dr KK Aggarwal    11 September 2019

MCI launches mandatory foundation course for all MBBS students

The Medical Council of India (MCI) has rolled out a mandatory one-month foundation course for all the MBBS students across the country, as reported in Times of India.

"Most often, it is assumed that the students will acquire certain soft skills such as communication, empathy and professionalism with time and experience. However, it is imperative to formally teach these fundamental concepts to the students. The foundation course is a consequence of the focus on upgrading the medical curriculum," says VK Paul, chairman, MCI and member, NITI Aayog.

As part of the Professionalism and Ethics module,students will also learn about disability rights, disability etiquettes while addressing patients with disabilities along with medical and social models of disability. Professional attributes such as accountability, altruism, empathy, compassion and humanism will be extensively discussed. Local language training will also be provided to the students to effectively communicate with the patients, depending on the geographical location of the institute.

To orient the students to the care delivery system, field visits to community and primary health centres along with interactions with health care workers, patients and their families have also been incorporated in the course. A module on sports and extracurricular activities has been integrated, with 4 and 2 hours per week allocated for sports and extracurricular activities, respectively, to make the students understand the work-life balance.

Healthcare News Monitor

Maharashtra offers 10% MBBS quota for those ready to work in villages for 5 yrs

The Times of India- Sujit Mahamulkar & Sumitra Debroy

MUMBAI: In a bid to bridge the doctor-patient gap in rural areas, the state government has proposed to reserve 10% of MBBS and 20% of medical post-graduation seats for in-service doctors who are willing to work in interior areas for five and seven years, respectively. The quota seats, though, come with a stringent condition: Those failing to work in state-run hospitals after completion of the course could face imprisonment of five years and even cancellation of their degrees. The state cabinet approved the decision on Monday and will introduce a bill called Maharashtra Designation of Certain Seats in Government and Municipal Corporations Medical Colleges in the legislature to make it a law. The reserved seats will be available in state and civic-run medical colleges as well for aspirants who want to work for a long period in government centres. By preliminary estimates, 450-500 MBBS seats could be earmarked under this quota while the count of PG seats for in-service MBBS graduates could be around 300.

Malaria Eradication Top Priority for Govt, Says Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

News18– PTI

Malaria eradication is one of the top priorities of the government, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday, and reaffirmed the Centres resolve to also eliminate diseases like tuberculosis, encephalitis and kala azar. He said efforts are also being made to develop a vaccine for dengue, and the government has also set up a strong surveillance system for viral diseases like Ebola. There are a couple of diseases which are on the radar of the health ministry and malaria is one of them, he said."We are working towards ending malaria as soon as possible. Similarly, we are aiming at eradicating leprosy, encephalitis and kala azar (visceral leishmaniasis). These are on high priority. Malaria is one of the topmost priorities," the minister told reporters here. Malaria is caused by a parasite which is transmitted to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. The minister said the international target set for eradication of tuberculosis (TB) is 2030, but the Union government wants to eliminate it by 2025. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had set 2030 as the target, as part of its End TB Strategy adopted in the World Health Assembly in 2014. Asked about health issues being faced by people of Jammu and Kashmir, the minister said the government did a lot in the past five years to address them and more was in store. "The government is keen to address every issue in Jammu and Kashmir, which includes health as well. In the last five years, the government did so much in the Valley. We are establishing the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) (at Samba in Jammu and Pulwama in Kashmir)," he said. He expressed confidence that development in Jammu and Kashmir in next five years would make people there wonder why there was a need for Article 370 in the first place.

Nagpur: Nod for centre for excellence at mental hospital

ET Healthworld- Chaitanya Deshpande

Nagpur: The state cabinet has approved a proposal to develop centre for excellence at regional mental hospitals in Nagpur, Pune and Thane. This means the regional mental hospital in the city will now run courses and develop curriculum for undergraduate and postgraduate medical students on management of the mental illnesses. Upgrading of psychiatry wings of government medical colleges and modernization of state mental hospitals are the components of the new National Mental Health Programme (NMHP). Setting up centres of excellence and strengthening PG training departments of mental health will be major steps towards achieving these components. Sources at mental hospital said that the centre will be developed with the help of Tata Trusts which is assisting in many activities of the hospitals for last three years. Training of mental health teams, increasing awareness and reducing stigma related to mental health problems, providing services for early detection and treatment of mental illness and collecting valuable data and experiences will be the major objectives of the centre.

Haryana chemists association urges DCGI to de-notify Rule 65(11) to avoid traders from cutting strips of medicines

Pharmabiz India – Peethaambaran Kunnathoor

At a time when patient groups and health activists are demanding legal provisions for getting loose tablets and capsules from medical shops instead of the entire strip, the Haryana Chemists and Druggists Association (HCDA) has urged the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to de-notify Rule 65(11) of Drugs and Cosmetics Rules as practical problems abound in dispensing of medicines due to cutting of strips of medicines and the business faces huge financial loss. Rule 65 and 65(11) of D&C Rules specify general conditions for licensing and dispensing of medicines including scheduled categories. “Since the unsold or date expired cut strips and loose tablets causing tremendous financial loss to pharmaceutical trade, a suitable law has to be framed for the benefit of both the customers and the retailers”, says Satish Vij, general secretary of HCDA. In his representation to the DCGI, Vij said viable solutions are required to find remedies to the shortcomings of the present system of pack size and the problem of strip cutting. Standard sizes, dosage regimen and mandatory purchase have to be made legal for the drugs like antibiotics and antimicrobial. Incomplete dosage regimen can cause bigger complications like drug resistant infections. For expensive drugs/formulations, smaller pack size can be recommended. HCDA wants the national drug regulator to reduce the size of the pack so as to enable the customers to buy it as per their needs or financial capacity.

DST launches AWSAR programme to disseminate Indian research stories among masses

Pharmabiz India – Shardul Nautiyal

In order to strengthen scientific temper among masses and scientists, the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) Division of Department of Science and Technology (DST) has launched Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research (AWSAR) programme to disseminate Indian research stories among masses in an easy to understand and interesting format. Vigyan Prasar an autonomous institute of DST will co-ordinate the programme. NCSTC under DST has also been actively engaged in developing various outreach programs for scientific fraternity to create a culture of science communication and popularisation among the scholars. Under this initiative, PhD Scholars and Post-Doctoral Fellows (PDFs) in Science and Technology (S&T) streams would be encouraged to write at least one popular science article during the tenancy of their fellowship and to participate in a national competition. It is also aimed to recognise the initiative and output of researchers on the specific aspects of natural, physical, mathematical and information sciences, applied science, technology, engineering and multi-disciplinary science. AWSAR envisage to bridge the existing gap in communicating research to common man by utilizing the latent potential of PhD Scholars and Post-Doctoral Fellows (PDFs).

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