The much awaited MCh pediatric surgery has finally got approval of two seats at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), from Medical Council of India (MCI). Noted that GMCH, Nagpur will be the second institution to start the course after JJ Hospital in Mumbai.
Significantly, this is the second course in Medical after MCh plastic surgery. It is worth mentioning here that there are a large number of children coming to Medical. Over 300 children are registered at the OPD daily, out of which, 30 to 40 percent require surgeries. Till date, these surgeries were conducted by Medical’s general surgery department while complicated surgeries were recommended to Delhi or Mumbai.
This cognisance was taken by then dean and pediatric department head Dr Abhimanyu Niswade, who sent a proposal to Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. As soon as approval was received, efforts began to start the MCh course and last month a team of MCI surveyed the arrangements. Dean Dr Sajal Mitra had taken the initiative and finally the courses were approved from May 13 as per an email received by the administration. The efforts of 13 years finally bore fruits. Now children coming from other states would get modern treatment and be saved.
Noted that the pediatric surgery department of Medical has conducted extremely complicated seven thousand surgeries on children since 2006 and most of the surgeries were successful. Earlier J J Hospital in Mumbai started this course but has not received a faculty since three years and the department stopped. Now in Maharashtra this department is running only in Nagpur.