All Feedback on NExT exam being taken seriously: Dean, Grant Government Medical College, Mumbai

Dr. Pallavi Supriya Prabhakar Saple, Dean of Grant Government Medical College and Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Group of Hospitals talked about her plans, focus areas, and National Exit Test.

Shiksha spoke to Dr. Pallavi Supriya Prabhakar Saple, Dean MD Pediatrics DNB Pediatrics DCH at Grant Government Medical College and Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Group of Hospitals, on various topics including the National Exit Test, here are the excerpts.

Q: What are your focus areas as Dean and Principal of Grant Government Medical College?

A: I have been a student of this institute. I have done my under graduation and post graduation here so I feel a stronger sense of responsibility and my focus areas are very simple. Basically, we are a college so the focus should be students and the students are going to learn on patients, so the patient care is the next focus. It's very simple to divide it under 2 heads - that patient care should be the best possible, and students should get the best kind of optimum education that we can offer them, that is the target.

Q: Does the medical college have any plans to increase the number of seats?

A: We've already done that. We have 250 undergraduate seats and we have 303 postgraduate seats, plus another 25 super speciality seats per year. So that's a huge number. So at any given time we have 1500 undergrads including interns and around 1100 postgrads and super specialists and we have we started new courses this year, MD in Geriatric, MD Emergency Medicine, DM in interventional radiology and MD in immunohematology. So we will have students in these 4 specialities also, which are coming into us in the next few months, hopefully. The admission process is done.

Q: How many seats you are offering in these courses?

A: There are different numbers as per NMC permissions - 5 in Immuno Haematology, 5 in Emergency Medicine I believe. 3 to 5 I'm not really sure in interventional radiology and in geriatrics, it is 3. Overall around 20 seats will increase in these 4 new branches.

Q: How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect the institute and what changes you are observing after the lockdown?

A: Fortunately, this medical college has 6 hospitals associated with it, 2 of which are our urban and rural training centres. But four hospitals in this area of town, around 2 kilometres away from each other. So we could designate 2 hospitals as dedicated COVID hospitals and we could offer treatment. I was not here during that period entirely, although I was there during the beginning and the end, because I was working on Covid in other places, I was deputed to Sangli and Miraj, Nagar district in Paithan and Dhule and Malegaon working on COVID so that's why we could offer non Covid services also in an unhindered manner. It was a pandemic that occurred after 100 years. This kind of pandemic occurred during the Spanish flu that happened from 1918 to 1920. So it affected everybody. The students learnt to adapt, they learnt online teaching, somewhere their clinical exposure was curtailed, but now they picking up. It's been a year and now they are picking up. The cultural activities were obviously stopped. But the academics we tried to offer the best we could with online classes.

Q: Which are the research areas of Grant Government Medical College?

A: We have over 300 plus postgraduates. So each one has to do his research for his dissertation. So research obviously is happening on a regular basis. So 300 into 3900 research products of various types are happening plus we have clinical trials, sponsored clinical trials which we are trying to regulate now but they are happening. We are a designated centre for antibacterial research for anti-retroviral treatment for HIV. So these government initiatives are also happening. The research along those lines of course happening.

Q: Tell us about the plans of Grant Government Medical College for academic and research collaboration with other institutions.

A: We are affiliated with Nasik University, they already have a summer internship program happening plus now there is a new initiative as per the NMC guidelines which you have electives which now because of Covid we were doing only at the institute level. But eventually, students could do it with other institutes, we would of course have to have an MOU with them. They could even go abroad down a few years later once we have better regulations in place. Plus, our students are doing ICMR researchers and summer internships, that kind of exposure to other areas is opening up because the NMC has now changed the syllabus in 2019, but then COVID happened. It's becoming more competency-based Education, and we are moving towards it. We also have a designated skills lab, we have a geriatric centre. So they are getting that kind of sub-specialities and super-specialities exposure.

Q: NMC is all set to start the National Exit Test (NExT) to replace NEET-PG, FMGE and MBBS finals, what changes it will bring?

A: We are obviously affiliated with NMC, so we will follow the guidelines. Whenever some drafts come, already interactions are taken in, so it's a way where the medical education is taking all stakeholders into confidence and moving ahead. So, maybe it is the future, as I see it. I am sure, the students' concerns will be addressed. I am part of the undergraduate medical board at NMC. All kinds of feedbacks are being taken into account.

Q: Medical students are protesting against the NExT exam, how do you see this development?

A: I have taken my students' feedback on NExT, of course, they are wary of anything new but there is no resistance that I sensed from them while my interaction with them, at least in my institute.

Read more:

• NExT: NMC releases National Exit Test Regulations 2023; check details
• NExT Mock Test to cancel, registration fees to refunded