Jorhat, July 4: The NRHM (National Rural Health Mission), in collaboration with Srimanta Sankaradeva University of Health Sciences, has launched a two-year postgraduate specialised training in medical colleges of Assam, in a bid to make doctors serving in rural areas better community service providers.

The first such training started recently at Jorhat Medical College, Fakhruddin Ali Medical College, Barpeta and Silchar Medical College.

The second batch will be admitted shortly in these medical colleges and also in the Assam Medical College and Dibrugarh and Gauhati Medical College.

Gayatri Bezboruah, registrar academics, Srimanta Sankaradeva University of Health Sciences, told The Telegraph over phone from Guwahati that the university would give diplomas in four subjects — obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, anaesthesiology and radiology.

Doctors serving in rural areas were given admission based on applications and interviews.

“The curriculum has been prepared by the university and is almost on a par with a postgraduate course, but with certain differences. A thesis is required for a postgraduate degree, whereas no thesis is required for the diploma course,” Bezboruah said.

In Jorhat Medical College and in the Medical College at Barpeta, there are six seats each in radiology and 12 seats each in all the other subjects.

In the other three medical colleges, there are six seats each for all the subjects.

Sarat Das, joint director of health, Jorhat, said this would also give a boost to maternal and child health programmes of the government.

“Doctors from Majuli are being trained. In Majuli there is no paediatrician, but now at least there will be some help at hand.

Moreover, finding an anaesthetist is also a problem, but the doctor being trained in anaesthesiology can now take over and conduct a surgery in the absence of one,” Das said.

B.P. Das, superintendent of Jorhat Medical College, said the training would be of immense help in rural medical centres where there is a dearth of specialists.

“The number of MDs serving in the state hospitals is very few. The doctors undergoing specialised training in different fields can now tackle any emergency, as their skills will be upgraded,” he said.

Das said the training of doctors would add teeth to the state’s endeavour to provide better medical services in the interior regions vis a vis the rural health practitioners who were given a diploma in medicine after a three- year course.