Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Seven medical colleges inaugurated in the state in the past decade do not have attached hospitals on the same campuses.
This, when the National Medical Commission has mandated that new medical colleges be attached to hospitals. Of the seven colleges, the one in Chhindwara came up in 2017, in Datia and Khandwa in 2018, in Satna in 2022, and in Neemuch, Seoni, and Mandsaur in 2024.
Health Commissioner Tarun Rathi said to the Free Press, “We have made an alternative arrangement of district hospitals as teaching hospitals for medical colleges till the development of their own hospitals. The Health Department is trying its best to make arrangements for the benefit of medical students as well as patients.”
However, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan India national convener Amulya Nidhi said, “It is highly lethargic on the part of the health department. But if the government is using district hospitals for medical colleges, these hospitals should be upgraded as per norms of tertiary healthcare services or facilities instead of prioritising private hospitals. District hospitals are located far from medical colleges.”
‘Teaching hospital must for medical college’
Former health director Dr Pankaj Shukla said, “A fully functional teaching hospital is mandatory for establishing a new medical college. The National Medical Commission (NMC) requires a minimum bed strength in the teaching hospital, with specific requirements based on the number of MBBS students the college intends to admit annually. Regulations also mandate the presence of specific departments like Emergency Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the teaching hospital to ensure comprehensive medical education and patient care. In case there is no teaching hospital, linking the college with district hospital is an alternative arrangement.”
Seven govt medical colleges sans hospital infrastructure
Chhindwara (2017)
Datia (2018)
Khandwa (2018)
Satna (2022)
Neemuch (2024)
Seoni (2024)
Mandsaur (2024)
