The preparations are going on at frantic pace for the proposed Doon Medical College for the forthcoming visit of the team of the Medical Council of India (MCI). After the nod of the MCI, the medical college would start enrolling the students in first year MBBS course. The team of MCI is expected to visit the site of the proposed medical college anytime and the people associated with the medical college are working overtime to ensure that the MCI gives its all important approval this time around. The Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Medical education Minister Harak Singh Rawat are personally monitoring the progress of the Medical College which is keeping the construction agency on tenterhooks for speedy disposal of work.
The process of appointments for the Junior Residents and Senior Residents is over while the appointment for faculty is also expected to get completed soon. The walk in interviews for the posts of Professors, Associate Professor and Assistant Professors were held in the office of Director Medical education on December 26 to 28.
Interestingly the Medical College is coming up at different sites in the city. As the MCI norms mandate that a full fledged hospital (with at least 300 beds) should be part of a medical college the Uttarakhand government decided to absorb the Doon hospital and Doon Women hospital into the medical college.
A multi story Out Patient Department (OPD) of the Medical College is being constructed near Tehsil Chowk in the city. The administrative and academic buildings of the college are coming up at Dehra Khas area located in Patel Nagar.
The Director of Doon Medical College, Dr Ashutosh Syana told The Pioneer that major focus is to get administrative and the academic block ready before the visit of MCI. He said that the works like installation of equipment and electrical fittings would get completed soon. The newly appointed Principal Dr Pradeep Bharti’s office has started functioning from the administrative block of the College. The Uttar Pradesh Nirman Nigam limited entrusted with the task of constructing the building of medical college the total project cost of which is about `383 crore.
It is learnt that with the completion of administrative and academic blocks and appointment of faculty the medical education department is planning to impress upon the MCI that the Government is really serious on the medical college front.
However after much hiccups the Doon hospital and the Doon women hospital were finally handed over to the Medical education department recently. The construction activities inside the hospital however are causing problems to the patients and their relatives. The space used for parking in the hospital is being dug up for the construction of a foot over bridge which would link the OPD block with the hospital wards. The patients are however not complaining. “We want the medical College to get competed soon as it would be a boon for the medical facilities of the state. The construction activity is causing some problems but for the cause of medical college they are acceptable,” said one of a relative of patient visiting the Doon hospital.