Ramadoss plans MBA for docs, may rope in IIM-A

Said to be the brainchild of health minister A. Ramadoss, the aim is to produce experts the ministry officials term ‘health managers’.

‘‘Funds must be utilised properly to improve the health sector. The previous years’ Budgets show that the Health ministry has returned thousands of crores of rupees to the government. Even last year, around Rs 1,000 crore were not used by the Department of Family Welfare,’’ said an official in the ministry.

The health manager will be required to gain expertise in planning and management of healthcare, financial management, logistic handling and programming.

‘‘There is likely to be no dirth of jobs. With the growth of the health sector, many jobs can open up,’’ the official said. According to the proposal, the curriculum will be divided among the institutes. Students would study in different institutes for specific durations.

‘‘It will be a two-year course. Equal emphasis is likely to be laid on healthcare, finance as well as social sciences,’’ said the official. While IIHMR will focus on healthcare education, IIP will educate students in demographic and population relation. NIHFW will impart training in public health. Social sciences will be taken care of by TISS and system management by IIM, Ahmedabad.

Though the modalities of entrance test are being worked out, the course is likely to be open to doctors and graduates from various fields. ‘‘Candidates may be selected through CAT exams,’’ said the official.