City peripheral hospitals get nod for only five DNB, diploma seats

The 436-bed K B Bhabha Hospital in Bandra West got nod for three DNB and diploma courses

Of the innumerable Diplomate of National Board (DNB) postgraduate courses proposed by six civic-run peripheral hospitals in city suburbs, the National Board of Examinations (NBE) in Medical Services - the central accreditation body for DNB - has shortlisted only five DNB and PG Diploma course seats. A total of 11,459 all-India seats were approved for this academic year, excluding the 247 Fellowship of the National Board.

The 436-bed K B Bhabha Hospital in Bandra West and the 279-bed V N Desai Hospital in Santacruz East are the two peripheral hospitals that have been shortlisted - one DNB seat for General Surgery and one each for DNB and PG Diploma pathology courses at Bhabha, and one DNB and one diploma seat in Anaesthesiology at V N Desai. The accreditation will be valid till December 2025. Bhabha hospital currently has four seats - two DNB and two diploma seats for Orthopedics, but the accreditation is expiring in December 2021.

The concerns

While senior health officials from BMC are hopeful they would surely get the NBE accreditation for the next academic year, hospital insiders have asked if the shortlisted peripheral hospitals have to be set up for teaching the specialised branches.

A health official, who did not wish to be identified, said, "It is good that V N Desai Hospital got two seats in Anaesthesiology for DNB. However, we must understand that Anaesthesiology is a specialised course and also requires on the job training as there are numerous sub branches, for example, neuro, cardiac, pediatric anesthesia etc. Ideally, the postgraduates must have practical experience, which is not possible at V N Desai, as these specialised surgeries do not happen here."

Similarly, Bhabha hospital, which got nod for one DNB and one diploma seat for pathology course, does not have a component separator machine in its blood bank, nor does it have sufficient staff to keep the blood bank operational for 24 hours, as mid-day reported on October 17.

Dr Sanjay Patil, acting Medical Superintendent at Bhabha hospital, said, "It is not important to have a component separator machine to teach DNB and Diploma Pathology students. We can easily tie up or have Memorandum of Understanding with LTMG, KEM or Nair medical colleges for giving hands-on training to the students."

Expert speak

Dr Ketan Vagholkar, Professor of Surgery at DY Patil Medical College and Hospital and also an examiner for DNB, General Surgery, said, "In speciality courses like Anaesthesiology, candidates will need to undergo additional rotations in super speciality departments of BMC-run medical colleges in order to complete satisfactory training."

When asked if the same is recognised as their conflict of interest between the two streams of PG training programme, he said, "The rule is that Master in Surgery (MS) and Doctor of Medicine (MD), and DNB courses cannot offer parallel or in a single teaching institute. BMC will then have to work out a comprehensive model whereby students opting for broad DNB specialities will be exposed to super speciality on-the-job practical training."

BMC speaks

When contacted Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner (health), BMC, said, "We are hopeful that the remaining peripheral hospitals will also get the accreditations for conducting DNB courses soon. If all goes well, within this academic year itself, most courses would commence. The NBE inspection is still underway and all approvals do not come in one go."

He explained, "Post the inspection, NBE team submits their remark, following which the peripheral hospitals have to rework on the suggestions/remarks and accordingly a fresh inspection is done. Once the team is satisfied, accreditation is granted."

He added, "Those specialised courses which are not available in the peripheral hospitals for DNB/PG Diploma students, we would ensure that they get the clinical practical exposures in BMC-run medical colleges. We have already adopted a method of having three to four peripheral hospitals connected to one major civic-run medical college for providing best medical care and knowledge sharing/guidance at any point in time."

Work so far

The BMC has already sanctioned posts for hiring 186 DNB faculties at a pay scale ranging from Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for peripheral hospitals to start the DNB programme, and have filled around 146 posts.

In the past one month, complicated surgeries viz. oral mucosa cancer, knee and hip replacement, spine surgeries and gynecological surgeries have been done at most of the six peripheral hospitals free of cost under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana.