Himachal medical colleges lose senior faculty to AIIMS

Tribune News Service

Subhash Rajta

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 5

Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMC) is set to lose at least five senior faculty members to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bilaspur, shortly. These doctors, along with a few others from other medical colleges in the state, were selected for AIIMS recently.

“Losing senior faculty members will affect the institution’s functioning. The impact will be felt more in smaller departments,” said IGMC Principal Surinder Singh. Earlier, two senior faculty members had left IGMC’s nephrology department over a year back to join AIIMS. The department is still struggling to get back on its feet with just one assistant professor handling its affairs.

Similarly, the departments of physiology and hospital administration at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, are yet to recover from the loss of faculty members to AIIMS.

“We have still not got any replacement for the doctors who left,” said Principal Bhanu Awasthi. In the fresh round of interviews at AIIMS, two more doctors from Tanda were selected. “We have enough strength in the departments from where doctors have been selected this time,” said Awasthi.

The trend of doctors leaving medical colleges to join AIIMS has left the state medical fraternity worried about its impact on medical colleges. “Most of the colleges are already short on faculty. Taking doctors from there will hamper the services,” said a senior doctor. “Also, what different will AIIMS offer if most of the doctors are picked from our own medical colleges. It would have been better if most of the faculty was brought from outside,” he said.

Meanwhile, another section feels there is nothing wrong in doctors opting for a higher institution. “AIIMS offers better pay, incentives and other facilities. Everyone has the right to explore possibilities for career progression,” said Dr Pushpender Verma, secretary, Himachal Medical Officers Association. “It is the responsibility of the government to arrange the replacement. The government is not offering time-bound promotions. Had it done so, there would not have been much problem,” said Verma.

No replacement, working affected

• 5 senior faculty members from IGMC chosen for AIIMS, Bilaspur
• Two from IGMC’s nephrology department had left last year
• Some docs from Tanda college too left for AIIMS recently
• Colleges rue despite shortage, govt failed to give replacement

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