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KPC Medical College Hospital Is Finally Going To Be Over This Year

By Sumit Kumar, Section Health
Posted on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 01:39:00 AM EST

The state's long wait for a private medical college is finally going to be over this year. Tiding over several failed attempts, procedural hassles and the stringent Medical Council of India (MCI) norms that threatened to scuttle the dream project, the KPC Medical College Hospital, with its swank new buildings and sprawling campus is steadily taking shape in Jadavpur. And, West Bengal has reason to rejoice for none other than Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss has expressed his keenness to see the college taking off this session.

Being launched by an NRI businessman, KPC is a stark contrast to the shabby, dilapidated buildings and the dank, smelly classrooms of the state medical colleges. With its glass exteriors, airy corridors, huge laboratories and a sprawling 350-bed hospital, it truly stands out. It will also be the first medical college in the state to admit foreign students. For overseas students, there would be airconditioned hostels. The college is going to have teachers from the US visiting on a regular basis.

KPC has come up on the century-old KS Roy TB hospital complex, which lay defunct for many years. The state government handed over the land to the college authority following an MOU in 2004. A litigation, however, came in the way of the deal and it was only in 2006 that the college authorities could start work. The TB hospital, where poet Sukanta Bhattacharjee died, has been kept intact.

Once the medical college starts, KPC will be converted into a fullfledged university with 31 colleges for different disciplines. The new university will spread across an area of 11 lakh sq feet and will eventually grow to 54 lakh sq ft. An agricultural university at Sonarpur is on the anvil and land has already been acquired for it.

A green signal from the Medical Council of India is expected by June and admission to the MBBS course will begin this year.

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"But before that, we must get the clearance from MCI. The MCI team is expected to visit our college any time," said Dr K P Chaudhuri, chairman of the KPC Medical College Hospital. He said the process of admission for first year students is yet to be finalised and talks are on with the state government. "Obviously, we will have to follow the MCI norms for admission and to decide the fees we must go by the Supreme Court guidelines," Dr Chaudhuri said.

Once the medical college takes off, the university will be heading for a dental college. There are plans for a post-graduate medical institute where MD and MS courses would be taught. Next in the pipeline is a pharmacy college along with a number of paramedical courses like physiotherapy, speech therapy, ICU technology, OT technology and pulmonary care. A psychology college and a college for rehabilitation technology could follow.

The campus already has a nursing college -- the Shobha Rani Nursing College -- which runs a BSc course. It will have an MSc soon. A nursing course for men has been planned, keeping in mind their demand overseas. The campus will also have a bio-medical and a medical engineering college, along with aviation technology college and a hotel management institute. A full fledged engineering college is expected to start functioning by 2010, which will offer marine sciences and oceanography courses.

A hotel will be constructed to house the relatives of the patients. Others will have a residency facility, where the patients can stay with their families on the campus itself and the doctors would also stay on the same floor so that in times of crisis, they can attend to the patients immediately.

But for now, the campus is bracing up to face the MCI inspection. Finishing touches are being put and work is progressing at a fast pace. "We are taking one step at a time. Let the MCI clearance come through and then we will take up the other projects," said Chaudhuri.

The chairman has assured students that the college will ensure proper accreditation of its training programmes so that the students coming from Europe and the US have no problems in practising overseas.

The demand for medical education being high throughout the globe, Dr Chaudhuri wants to take this opportunity and draw students to his college. "If students can go to China for medical education, why can't they come to Kolkata?" he asked.

Source: Times News Network, April-19-2008

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