Srinagar, Mar 15: To boost academics and rural healthcare, officials claimed that 20 new seats have been sanctioned by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Science (NBEMS) under DNB for institutions in J&K until the commencement of the Session 2023.
According to officials, GMC Srinagar has been approved for two seats in Paediatric Anaesthesia, while JLNM Hospital, Srinagar has been approved for three Post MBBS DNB seats in General Surgery, and DH Udhampur has been approved for five seats in Paediatrics, General Medicine, and Orthopedics.
Similarly, DH Poonch has received two seats in General Medicine. The DH Ganderbal has got a sanction of 2 seats each in DNB General Medicine and Diploma Paediatrics,. DH Kulgam received 2 seats in Family Medicine and CHC Kupwara got 2 seats in Diploma Pediatrics.
Administrative Secretary, Health and Medical Education (H&ME) Department, Bhupinder Kumar said the DNB model has strengthened rural hospitals and helped to limit referrals and improved quality services across in districts where there are no medical colleges.
“Last year, we have been able to almost double the DNB seats and this is key success story of 2022. We will continue to develop it, and it is becoming better by the day. We are witnessing a shift. “In the future, we will have PG students in rural hospitals 24 hours a day, and they will bring more transformation to healthcare and increase quality,” he stated.
The DNB courses were first initiated in five selected District Hospitals and CHCs and after the success it has been replicated in other District Hospitals across Jammu and Kashmir.
Kumar said the implementation of DNB in district hospitals of J&K is an important endeavour to address the key concerns of shortage of specialists and providing quality care, and District Hospitals are being strengthened to improve healthcare.
Official said implementation of DNB courses has led to an equitable distribution of health care services and manpower, especially in far-flung and hard-to-reach areas.
Mission Director (MD), NHM, J&K, Ayushi Sudan said the implementation of DNB courses at district levels in J&K has been termed as a best practice in the country.
“Under the DNB programme at UT, a total of 250 seats were provided to accredited departments for Session 2022 as a result of the concerted efforts and hard work of the Administrative Department H&ME J&K, NHM J&K,” she said.
She said the efforts are being made to scale up the DNB courses to all the district hospitals and potential CHCs of J&K. “During the upcoming session, J&K is planning to submit more than 30 applications and including almost all District Hospitals”, she said.
The DNB (Diplomate of National Board) courses have been introduced in district hospitals and new GMCs besides old GMCs and SKIMS to strengthen the institutions, decongest the Govt. Medical Colleges and to address the shortage of specialists in J&K.
