In a major reprieve to the Government Doon Medical College (GDMC), the Medical Council of India (MCI) has given it a time period of 15 days to its administrations to ensure that the shortcomings plaguing the college and associated hospital are removed and things are put into their right places. A team of MCI, the apex body of medical education in India, had visited the medical college and associated hospital recently and had expressed unhappiness over the state of affairs at GDMC.
The MCI team had found that about 25 percent of the faculty positions was lying vacant while the number of the resident doctors was also found less than required. The team indicated that the departments like microbiology, pharmacology, pathology and forensic medicines are almost non- functional. Further, they said that the distance between two beds in the hospital wards was found to be less than the standard specification. The team again pointed out paucity of medical journals in the college library and absence of separate section for minor eye surgery.
The Principal of the GDMC Dr Pradip Bharati Gupta said that all the shortcomings pointed out by the MCI would be corrected soon. He said that the college has recruited 14 Junior Residents and one Senior Resident (SR), adding that all the vacant faculty positions would soon be filled.
Notably, the GDMC had been awarded Letter of Permission (LOP) by the MCI in June 2016 and, based on the permission, the college had admitted 150 students in its first batch of MBBS course last year. The college had been given second LOP by the apex body of medical education in April last year based on which 150 students were admitted in the 2nd batch. Regarding the admission in the third batch this year, the MCI team has visited the college recently.
These LOPs had been provided to the college by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India on the condition that the college would have to continuously upgrade its facilities and invite the MCI team for renewal of permission in the coming years. It had been further stated that the college would have to continuously upgrade the facilities in the associated hospital and medical college for the renewals.
As things stand now, the GDMC would have to eventually upgrade itself from the present 300- bed associated hospital to a 750- bed one, those privy to the matter said.