MUHS gets in-principle nod for medical college

Nashik: Union ministry of health and family welfare and the National Medical Commission have given their ‘in-principle’ nod to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) to start a postgraduate medical college. The proposed institute will be known as the Maharashtra Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (MPGIMER).

Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar (retd), the varsity’s Vice-Chancellor, told TOI they have started the process to recruit 57 faculty members, including the dean.

“This is a dream project for the MUHS. The varsity is keen to complete the recruitment process by the end of this month. Thereafter, commission would make an inspection before giving its final nod. MPGIMER is likely to start functioning from 2022-23,” said Kanitkar.

Initially, MPGIMER would impart PG medical education in seven disciplines — general medicine, paediatrics, general surgery, orthopaedics, anaesthesia, obstrectics and gynaecology, maternity and child welfare and emergency medicine.

“The commission would decide on the seats for PG admissions in all the seven disciplines. I think there would be at least 50 seats for all the disciplines,” she added.

The students would be initially attending classes at the Nashik civil hospital. The hostel facilities would be on the MUHS campus. Nashik civil hospital has about 600 beds with six operational theatres.

“I was impressed by the medical infrastructure at the Nashik civil hospital during my recent visit there. Seminars and lectures will be held in the hospital itself,” said Kanitkar.

‘CDS's demise is personal loss for me’

The MUHS VC, Lt Gen (Dr) Madhuri Kanitkar, described the deaths of Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 11 other IAF and army personnel as her ‘personal loss.’

She said she tried calling Madhulika after the initial information about the crash came in. “Her phone, however, was not reachable. I feared that something serious was amiss,” she said.

She said that during her posting as deputy chief Integrated Defence Staff at Delhi, she used to frequently interact with Rawat. “He was extremely productive, clear in his thinking and hardworking. He never used to go home before 8-9 in the night. The deaths are a national loss but for me it is a personal loss,” she said, adding that she was extremely close to Madhulika.