Medicine

SERVICE

The health professionals in the department care for about 100,000 outpatients and 10,000 inpatients every year. A 26-bedded ICU offers high-quality, cost-effective care to seriously sick patients with a wide spectrum of medical disorders. The four wards in the department house 192 inpatients. An epidemiological transition of diseases - from acute infectious disease to chronic lifestyle disease is being witnessed. A 10 bedded cardiac ICU and Cathlab offers intensive coronary care, and services of angiography and angioplasty to cardiac patients.

In May 2013 the Department of Medicine shifted to the state-of art, 192-bedded new building. The Outpatient department has an electronic queue management system. New machines for stress test and pulmonary function tests have also been installed. There is also provision for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring as well as Holter monitoring. The 26-bed ICU offers excellent tertiary level critical care at affordable prices and is well equipped with ICU pendants, non-invasive monitors, ventilators etc. A hemodialysis unit with 3 hemodialysis machines offers round the clock service to outpatients as well as in-patients. On 30 Aug 2014 the cardiac ICU (ICCU) and Catheterization lab was inaugurated by President, Kasturba Health Society. The 10 bedded state of the art cardiac ICU is well equipped with cardiac monitors, Echocardiography etc. The new angiography suite is equipped with sophisticated technology that produces high resolution images with the lowest dose of radiation possible. On 16 Dec 2014 the first cardiac catheterization was done. On 27 Feb 2015, the first angioplasty was performed in our Cathlab.

EDUCATION

Beginning 1982, 120 residents have obtained their MD from the department, many of whom went on to super- specialize in diverse areas. The department has kept track with modern technology, but hasn’t forgotten the importance of bedside medicine. With close to 300 postgraduate teaching sessions a year, it provides a learning platform to the residents where they acquire and hone their clinical skills; learn the art of critically appraising,interpreting and presenting medical articles and take part in morbidity and mortality audits. The postgraduate seats have increased from 4 to 6 per year. In addition to MD (Medicine) programme, recognized by the Medical Council of India, the department has been running a diploma in Geriatric Medicine (Indira Gandhi National Open University), DNB in Family Medicine and starting this year, a Certificate course in evidence based diabetes management (CCEBDM) recognized by the International Diabetes Federation and Public Health Foundation of India and in collaboration with Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Education Academy.

RESEARCH

The department focuses on research issues that are locally relevant but possess a global focus: infectious diseases (TB and leprosy), epidemiology of coronary heart diseases and hypertension and accuracy of history and physical examination. The department was a part of National Task Force projects on TB run by Indian Council of Medical Research. The department has also won research grants from external peer-reviewed funding agencies such as Fogarty AIDS Research and Training Program, USA; Canadian Institute of Health Research; Population Health Research Institute, Canada; National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Heart Lung Blood Institute (NHLBI) and United Health Group, USA. With more than 350 peer reviewed publications in high-quality journals, the research from the department hasn’t escaped the eyes of the connoisseurs, worldwide.Two physicians from the department have voluntarily ventured in to community and tribal health, investing considerable time, energy and efforts to understand the association between socio-economic issues and individual health of villagers, the dynamics of community-based health insurance scheme and determinants of malnutrition and child mortality in nearly inaccessible tribal areas.