PGI body approves 31 posts of Assistant Professor

Naina Mishra

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Chandigarh, October 21

Institute body of the PGI, under the Centre, has approved the creation of 31 posts of Assistant Professor in key departments, a move that is aimed at alleviating the shortage of medical professionals and enhancing the quality of patient care.

These positions will be distributed among three crucial wings — Hospital administration, histopathology and the division of paediatric gastroenterology & hepatology under the Department of Gastroenterology.

Additionally, there is a proposal for creating one post of Senior Resident and six of Senior Demonstrator in various departments. The posts of Senior Demonstrator will be given to Paediatric Genetic Metabolic Unit Laboratory (two), Paediatric Haematology Laboratory, APC (two), Paediatric Allergy and Immunology Laboratory (one) and Translational and Regenerative Medicine (one). The hospital administration, which plays a pivotal role in managing the ever-increasing patient load, is set to benefit significantly. The rising demand for hospital services, coupled with an increase in hospital beds and new satellite centres, has necessitated the expansion of this administration. However, the current number of sanctioned positions of Assistant Professor do not adequately match the growing workload.

Histopathology, a department that provides essential diagnostic, teaching and research services to the expanding clinical faculty, has witnessed a substantial growth in recent years. With over 260 new faculty positions having been created in the past four years, some of these positions have been filled, but several posts remain vacant due to a lack of space and adequate number of operation theatres.

The faculty strength (two members) at the Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology is woefully insufficient to sustain the demands of research and teaching. A notable contrast is seen in the adult DM gastroenterology and DM hepatology Programmes, which have a sanctioned faculty strength of 12 and 8 members, respectively.