PGI may soon become city’s 2nd institution to offer MBBS

So far,only Government Medical College and Hospital,Sector 32 (GMCH-32) offers the MBBS course in the city. If the PGIMER Standing Academic Committee approves the proposal for an MBBS course,it will be forwarded to the Standing Finance Committee and a final decision will be taken by the Institute’s Governing Body,which too is meeting on January 17. The Governing Body meeting will be chaired by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

“As of now,the introduction of the MBBS course at PGI is not on the Standing Academic Committee agenda. But there are still a few days left for the meeting and they can put it on the agenda and forward it to the Finance Committee and the Governing Body,” said a top PGIMER official. He said that the Governing Body of the Institute can take a final call only after it is approved by the two committees.

Sources said that many academicians at the Institute are of the opinion that they should start the MBBS course at the institute so that they are able to generate a good pool of talent. At present,PGI trains doctors in various courses only at the post-graduate and doctoral levels.

The Institute’s new academic session began last week,with 110 candidates joining the MD/ MS course with major specialties like anaesthesia,medicine,nuclear medicine,gynaecology,paediatrics,psychiatry,orthosurgery,radiodiagnosis,general surgery,microbiology and pathology.