Involve private sector in medical education, says VP

“Combining the public and private sectors in medical education is the best way forward in terms of improving the country’s healthcare,” he said. While the system was expanding and the government as well as the private sector was focusing on increasing the number of medical colleges, it is important to focus on the quality of medical education, he added.

“I feel the time has come that we should open up further to the private sector. We must open up to the idea of competing with the private sector,” he said.

Expressing joy over the fact that the curriculum for allied health has been designed to incorporate the latest technology, he added that it will make the students familiar with the operation of these latest equipment like dialysis machines and heart-lung machine.

The Vice President said that universities must offer the best learning environment to our students and stressed on the need to learn from the best minds in the world and we cannot grow if we are insulated and isolated. “The quality of education in our medical colleges is the life blood of India’s healthy future,” he stressed.

He urged the faculty members to encourage the students to delve deeper, stating that it will be possible only if the faculty members are themselves good listeners and good lifelong learners. “The quality of healthcare depends mainly on the quality of health care professionals, and this should not merely be limited to cities. Young doctors must work in rural areas before getting their first promotion,” he added.

Stressing on the fact that Tamil Nadu has been one of the leading states in the country in providing health care to its people, he said, “The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University, which is one of the largest Medical Universities in the country, has been a pace setter in many ways and has successfully started new courses in medicine and allied health sciences according to the needs of the society and the emerging disease patterns.”