AHMEDABAD: If all goes well, MBBS students in the state will be the first to attend in-person classes in January next year. Some medical colleges are gearing up to open their doors for offline teaching for MBBS students from February 1, as recommended by the National Medical Commission.
“We are planning to start teaching the foundation course as early as December-end or in the first week of January,” said Dr Nitin Vora, dean of GMERS Sola Medical College. “This course includes basic orientation on doctor-patient relationship, ethics, and other relevant topics.”
The Union health ministry had recently issued a notification saying that medical colleges should resume offline teaching on or before December 1. Ever since the pandemic broke out in March-end, medical students have been studying online while final-year MBBS and PG students have been involved in Covid-19 healthcare.
The authorities of local medical colleges said there has been an unprecedented delay in starting the academic session for MBBS students due to the pandemic. Planning is afoot to start offline teaching from January to pave the way for full academic sessions from February 1. “We are likely to begin offline teaching from January, starting with foundation courses,” said Dr Pranay Shah, dean of BJ Medical College.