MBBS students reach village for NMC family adoption programme
Aligarh : First-year MBBS students of the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) have reached the Punjipu village where as a part of new National Medical Commission (NMC) MBBS training curriculum, each medical student will adopt three to five families to monitor their health conditions regularly and advice them accordingly.
The bus that took them to Punjipu village was flagged off by Shri Gaurav Dayal (Aligarh Commissioner), Dr Neeraj Tyagi (Chief Medical Officer, District Aligarh), Savitri Pal (ICDS, Jawan Block, Aligarh), Prof Rakesh Bhargava (Dean, Faculty of Medicine), Prof Shahid Ali Siddiqui (Principal, JNMC), Prof Saira Mehnaz (Chairperson, Department of Community Medicine), Prof M Athar Ansari (Programme Coordinator), Dr Ali Jafar Abedi, Dr Mohammad Salman Shah and Dr Nafis Faizi.
“This family adoption programme will ensure enhanced healthcare services in rural areas. Consequently, the adopted families shall become self-sufficient for basic health care and outcomes achieved by these medical students will bring a huge change in the health care of rural area residents”, said Shri Gaurav Dayal (Aligarh Commissioner).
Dr Neeraj Tyagi (Chief Medical Officer, District Aligarh) emphasised: “We are ready to extend all possible support from the health services centres to enrich the rural population”.
“The MBBS students looking after the adopted families in the rural areas will be guided by faculty members. Medical social workers will also extend their support to assist them. This programme will increase the availability of specialist doctors in villages”, said Prof Rakesh Bhargava (Dean, Faculty of Medicine).
Prof Shahid Ali Siddiqui (Principal, JNMC) pointed out: “We already have a district residency programme for medical post graduates making it mandatory for them to undergo compulsory three-months posting at district hospitals. Now with the inclusion of a new family adoption programme in the MBBS training, we can further ensure primary health and wellbeing of people in villages”.
“Medical education regulator, NMC has included this programme under the community medicine department of every medical college to ensure enhanced healthcare services in rural areas. The idea behind the programme is also to provide MBBS students with on ground hands-on experience from the beginning”, said Prof Saira Mehnaz (Chairperson, Department of Community Medicine).
She also trained the first year MBBS students for the programme with faculty members, Dr Mohammad Salman Shah, Dr Tabassum Nawab, Dr Ali Jafar Abedi and Dr Nafis Faizi.
Prof M Athar Ansari (Programme Coordinator) informed: “Dr Ali Jafar Abedi did the field mapping exercise, liaison work and village coordination for the programme. Dr. Mohammad Salman Shah and Dr Nafis Faizi prepared the guidance documents, modules and logbook”.