Six medical colleges to be established in first phase

Chennai: Tamil Nadu will establish govt medical colleges at Mayiladuthurai, Thirupathur, and Tenkasi in the first phase of its plan to establish six new medical colleges in newly formed districts. In the second phase, colleges will be established at Perambalur, Ranipet, and Kancheepuram, an official said.
After a meeting with chief secretary Shiv Das Meena in May, senior health department officials asked joint directors of health in these districts to work with the collectorate to identify 25 acres of land for establishing new medical colleges and to prepare documents on available resources, including equipment and manpower.
National Medical Commission has deferred regulations framed by the undergraduate medical education board, limiting the number of medical seats and colleges based on population, in March. In April, the health department started preparing to get the state’s nod for six new medical colleges. During the meeting with chief secretary, it was decided that these colleges would be established under a centrally sponsored scheme. “Resources for starting the medical colleges will be shared. The state has a policy to establish at least one medical college in every district. Besides increasing UG medical seats in the state, it will help the state establish tertiary care centres with multiple specialties in all districts,” said director of medical education Dr J Sangumani.
So, while establishing these new colleges, officials have been asked to identify areas that don’t have easy access to medical care. For instance, in Ranipet district, instead of identifying land in the town, where Christian Medical College Hospital and Govt Vellore Medical College operate, district administrators have been asked to identify land in Arakkonam. Similarly, to make optimum utilisation of space, Kancheepuram district is exploring options of opening a medical college in Arignar Anna Cancer Hospital campus at Karapettai.
Space is at a premium, said a senior health department official. “Some buildings in new colleges are empty because we are still waiting to establish newer specialties. We are discussing if we can hire a third-party consultant to provide a comprehensive plan for utilising existing buildings ,” he said.
Health secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi has also asked colleges to do a cost-benefit analysis, including the relative performance of eleven newly established medical colleges against the performance of hospitals when they were functioning as govt headquarters hospitals. “We are planning to get these reports ready in a month or two,” a senior official said.
The directorate has also asked deans of all govt medical colleges to prepare to increase intake. “While most new medical colleges have at least 150 MBBS seats, colleges that are a decade old have just 100 MBBS seats. As a part of our plan to increase medical seats, we want to ensure all colleges have at least 150 seats,” Dr. Sangumani said.