Govt. to offer DNB courses at 10 more hospitals to solve shortage of specialists

DNB courses were started in 6 district hospitals, including 2 general hospitals, last year

Addressing the perennial paucity of specialists across government hospitals in Karnataka, the State has decided to offer Diplomate of National Board (DNB) courses (equivalent to Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery) in 10 more hospitals — five district and five taluk — in 22 specialities.

The government has been running the courses in six hospitals (K.C. General, Jayanagar General, and district hospitals of Tumakuru, Ballari, Chitradurga, and Dharwad in 22 specialities since 2018, with assistance from the National Health Mission (NHM) and the National Board of Education (NBE).

Now, it has identified district hospitals in Dakshina Kannada, Haveri, Chikkamagaluru, Yadgir, and Chickballapur, and taluk hospitals in Holenarasipur, Doddaballapur, Gangavathi, Sira, and Basavakalyana for the new DNB centres. The move is expected to address shortage of specialists and strengthen district hospitals to provide quality patient care.

Applications to NBE

In addition to this, the district hospitals of Bagalkot, Kolar, Dharwad, Ballari, Chitradurga, and Jayanagar General Hospitals have submitted applications to the NBE for assessment and approval of 18 more specialities, said Parimala Maroor, Deputy Director, State Institute of Health and Family Welfare.

Commencement of DNB courses in district hospitals was an important endeavour to address the key concerns of shortage of specialists and providing quality care, Dr. Maroor said, and added that 60 seats were approved for 2018 session and 80 for 2019 session. Of this, 50 students were admitted for 2018 session and 33 students have been admitted for 2019 session till date.

“Extending postgraduate medical education to district government hospitals has inspired the doctors-teachers to update their knowledge and most importantly, improved patient care through round-the-clock presence of resident doctors in these hospitals,” she said, and added that candidates were selected through the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-PG).

The Association of National Board Accredited Institutions (ANBAI) and the NBE have come together to assist the State government in this move. The ANBAI involved itself in facilitating this accreditation process and is now actively involved in conducting the orientation process for all these hospitals.

DNB faculties are provided by the NHM for teaching and training students, who will also be treating patients at the hospitals. Hence, these hospitals will have additional specialists, the doctor said. With the NHM also providing the required budget for infrastructure strengthening of these centres, equipment which would help in providing quality care to patients is being procured.