Darbhanga Medical College launches 'crash course' for MBBS graduates

A foundation course for the first-year MBBS students was conducted at the Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital on Monday. Although the admissions to the MBBS programme has not been completed for the current academic session, the students were asked to attend the specially designed crash course along with the faculty members.

The intake for the MBBS programme at DMCH was increased to 120 after the Ministry of Health and Family welfare gave its acceptance for the additional 120 seats to accommodate the students under the EWS category. According to the guidelines prescribed by the Medical Council of India, before the commencement of the classes for the first year MBBS batch, a one month foundation course was to be started on August 1, 2019.

According to the Principal of DMCH, Dr. H N Jha, the foundation course is a part of the new curriculum and is mandatory for all the MBBS students across the country. Changes had to be brought in to the syllabus in order to direct the attention to the issues such as ethics and humanity. Presently, the duration of the 12-month first-year MBBS programme has been increased to 13 months with a month especially allotted for the foundation course.

Jha also said that it was not possible to start the foundation course on August 1, 2019, with just a few students so it was decided to wait until more students were admitted. Because of this, the one month course was finally compressed into a fortnight-long schedule.

Program co-coordinator and medical officer of the pediatric department, Dr. Om Prakash said that the foundation course for the first year MBBS students was brought in by the MCI with an aim to equip a medical graduate with the attitude, ethics and communication competencies.

The foundation course will through light to the medical ethics, professionalism, communication skills, stress management, interpersonal relationships, gender sensitivity, self-care and awareness against ragging. Presentations, group activities, sports, and hospital visits are also part of the programme.

One of the doctors pointed out that since a very long time, MBBS courses have started with the anatomy lecture on the first day and this was the first time that entry-level curriculum would be something different. He also added that the outlook of the students cannot be changed as soon as they join the MBBS course. And it is through the introductory course that students can be made to feel at home to a certain extent.