Friday, October 23, 2015

WB to announce 2-yr diploma course in family medicine from UK

LONDON: Bengal is going all out to bring back a dying breed of doctors — family physicians.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will announce a two-year-diploma course in family medicine to create an army of family physicians for the state.

Banerjee will arrive in London for her three day maiden visit to UK on Sunday night with a 60-member-strong delegation from government, arts and industry.

On Monday, the state's principal secretary of health Malay Kumar De will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to roll out the course.

In an exclusive interview with TOI, chair of the RCGP professor Maureen Baker said "The Royal College of GPs will be signing a MOU with the Institute of Health and Family Welfare of West Bengal (IHFW) on July 27".

"We have been involved in work in West Bengal since 2012 and have already piloted a one-year fellowship in family medicine — under this new agreement we will expand this into a new two-year diploma. We are very encouraged by the IHFW enthusiasm in supporting this new venture, and dedication to promoting global primary care."

"The college is committed to maintaining standards of patient care both in the UK and abroad, so we are delighted to be working with IHFW to continue to support the development of primary healthcare in India. Building a strong primary care network in India is part of our international strategy over the next 10 years. This partnership will give us the opportunity to promote the considerable benefits of family medicine both to wider healthcare systems and patients".

"The first step in developing strong family medicine is to train physicians how to be a good family doctor and we look forward to sharing our knowledge and expertise in order to make this happen," professor Baker added.

India has seen a mad rush among medical students to become "specialists" causing the cadre of family physicians — once the backbone for India, to fast disappear.

Bengal is trying to bring back the family physician in the forefront of primary healthcare. The steering committee on health has also been pressurizing the ministry to endorse family medicine.

In a report it said, "family medicine discipline needs to be introduced in all medical colleges so that they can effectively manage most of medical problems encountered at primary level, and referral to specialists occurs only when necessary."

Till now, most family physicians were MBBS doctors.

Dr K Srinath Reddy, president of Public Health Foundation of India had earlier told TOI "Family medicine is a required discipline. The rush for specialization has deprived doctors of the ability to look at individuals as a whole and families as one unit. We require large number of persons trained in family medicine, which combines a broad set of clinical competencies".

American Academy of Family Physicians defines it as "medical specialty that integrates the biological, clinical and behavioural sciences. The scope of family medicine encompasses all ages — both sexes — each organ system and every disease entity."

Bengal started a one year fellowship in family medicine in 2012-13 for MBBS degree holders in technical collaboration with RCGP. The fellowship was awarded jointly by the West Bengal University of Health Sciences and RGCP and covered anesthology, critical care medicine, paediatrics, neonatology and orthopaedics and trauma care.

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