To address the “shortage” of physicians in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has requested that Health Secretary Narayan Swarup Nigam examine the possibility of initiating a diploma course for doctors similar to engineering diplomas.
“Please determine if we can begin a diploma program for physicians, similar to the one for engineers. Then many children will have the opportunity to pursue medicine through a diploma program, she said on Thursday at a review meeting for ‘Utkarsh Bangla’.
She urged the health secretary to establish a committee to determine the legal ramifications of such diploma programs in order to train more doctors for primary care units. The chief executive also requested that state officials investigate the establishment of an additional 100 nursing training institutions.
“The physicians are now required to complete their five-year MBBS curriculum. They must re-study before becoming junior physicians. There have been increases in the number of hospital beds, patients, and hospitals. There will be a positive outcome if there are diploma physicians covering the primary health centres concurrently. This will meet the increasing demand for physicians and population, Mamata told Health Secretary N S Nigam.
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She also stated that by instituting diplomas, the doctor shortage in primary health care centers can be alleviated by employing diploma-holding physicians. She requested that the health secretary establish a committee to determine the legal ramifications of such diploma programs in order to train more physicians for primary healthcare units.