Becomes only institute in J&K to have 4 such seats per session
Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, June 29: Something that is going to have long-lasting effects on the patient care across J&K, the National Board of Examinations (NBE) has accredited Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar’s Department of Surgery for the FNB in Minimal Access Surgery.
In this regard, the NBE has approved 4 fellowship seats each year for the Department of Surgery in FNB in Minimal Access Surgery starting from July 2022 up to the July session of the year 2026.
After getting the accreditation, the GMC said that it is a matter of pride and the same would help in upgrading the academic standard in the Department of Surgery, particularly in the sphere of Minimal Access Surgeries.
The accreditation agreement document in this regard states that the Minimal Access Surgery department of the GMC, Srinagar shall be provisionally accredited by the NBEMS for the FNB Minimal Access Surgery program for a period of up to five years i.e. five admission sessions (July session).
“However, accreditation so granted, shall be reviewed annually through Annual Reviews conducted by NBEMS, during the accredited period to reaffirm the minimum standards prescribed by the NBEMS are maintained by the accredited hospital,” the document reads.
While talking to Excelsior, Dr. Iqbal Saleem Professor, GMC’s Department of Surgery said that they have been trying for it for the last one year, and then on March 25 this year, the assessor from NBE, Dr. Ajit Sinha, visited the Department for the necessary inspection before granting the accreditation.
“He assessed the facilities and was quite satisfied; he was quite happy witnessing the availability of the infrastructure and the experienced manpower at the department,” he said, adding that even though, the Head of the Department, Dr. Mufti Mehmood is a Urologist, but has got a special interest in laparoscopy.
It is to be noted here that, ideally, to begin with, 2 seats are approved in such programs, and then after reassessment, the number of seats is increased, however, keeping in view the availability of the infrastructure and other requirements, the Department of Surgery of GMC, Srinagar has got 4 seats approved for FNB in Minimal Access Surgery.
Notably, the approval has come from the NBE keeping in GMC Srinagar’s vast experience in laparoscopic surgeries where all the advanced procedures from hernias to cancers, from pancreatic surgeries to advanced urology procedures, are carried out.
So far, the only institution which had such a program approved by the NBE is SKIMS Soura which is offering only two seats for the FNB, however, the entire setup at SKIMS in this regard is scattered, making GMC, Srinagar a better place.
Further, what is also unique to the GMC, Srinagar is that it is the only place in J&K where pancreatic surgeries are being carried out while in cancers, its Department of Surgery has the highest series of management of stomach cancer and colorectal cancer.
Interestingly, to improve the overall patient care, the Department of Surgery has also started bariatric surgeries under which they are helping the patients with metabolic syndromes apart from kick-starting the ‘Endo Training Sessions’ for the PGs to make them proficient in handling and executing laparoscopic procedures with precision.
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