07/09/2015
55 years on, a new govt. medical college for
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When Chief Minister Jayalalithaa formally declares open the brand new medical college at the Omandurar Estate on Wallajah Road, it will mark a milestone of sorts in the medical history of the city.
Chennai's two main government hospitals — Madras Medical College (MMC) and Stanley Medical College — are heritage institutions. The third, Kilpauk Medical College, introduced the MBBS course first in 1960.
Since then, while the private sector growth in medical education has been robust, there had been no new medical colleges in Chennai per se, though the State government began looking the different districts to build medical colleges.
The number of seats in the city medical colleges went up though, with the Medical Council of India (MCI) granting approvals, but no fresh colleges came up.
Nearly 55 years later that trend has been broken, and a new medical college will open its doors to 100 students doing MBBS. It will also be the State’s 20th medical college. It will also be the first fully air-conditioned medical college in the State.
Out of the seven buildings that constitute the land abutting the super specialty hospital in Omandurar Estate, four will house the college, and three, a hospital.
As per MCI requirements, each medical college will have to be associated with a hospital. To fulfil this requirement, the college will initially be linked with the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children and once the 300-bedded hospital next to it is ready, and functional, possibly next year, the new college will be attached to it.
Currently all the government medical hospitals in the State see at least 20,000 outpatients per day.
It is expected that this hospital will further enhance the government’s institutional capacity to cater to patients. Located at a stone’s throw from the super specialty hospital and a short distance away from what is perceived as the mother lode for government medical colleges in the State — MMC, it is hoped that the new medical college and its hospital will facilitate better interaction, referrals and research. With Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital developing a specialisation in burns care, and Stanley Hospital building an ace plastic surgery and hand surgery unit, perhaps the new hospital/college, with its enviable central location, will work towards building expertise in areas as yet under explored. http://bit.ly/1hPmSzh
