Clinical Photography Course to begin at PGIMER

PGIMER is taking another of its many leads, by introducing a three year BSc Course in clinical photography entitled- 'Medical Animation and Audiovisual Creation'. The course is bound to gain popularity as clinical photographers are the need of the hour, with their practical non existence in hospitals, medical colleges, scientific institutes and investigative agencies.

The  officials claim that the institute will become the first to introduce a specialisation in the said field and the course will go to become one-of-its-kind in entire Asia.

The course, is meant to educate students in photographic applications in medical science along with digital illustrations, medical animation and developing audiovisual content for patient care, medical education and research.

The students will also be complimented by being educated in subjects like anatomy, pathology and physiology, in order to facilitate working with doctors and other healthcare professionals.

With a seat strength of 15, the course commences session in September 2017. Its fee structure involves a six monthly fee payment of Rs. 1200. People with prior experience of five years in medical /scientific photography or class 12 pass outs are eligible to join the course.

Of the 15 available seats, 10 would be filled through a national entrance exam, while five would be reserved for sponsored candidates and foreign nationals.

A clinical photographer's job entails expertise as it calls for photographing a wide range of subjects varying from postmortems to rare surgeries and diseases.

"A clinical photographer captures and records the medical conditions of patients. These pictures play a crucial role in supporting doctors to diagnose and treat patients. These are important medical records, and are also used as instructional tools to teach other students," said a working PGIMER clinical photographer .

A clinical photographer cannot afford to commit mistake as it can prove fatal for patient because at times, doctors diagnose the disease after analysing the images, he further added.

"Apart from this, they also play an important role in crime scenes. A clinical photographer must know which picture to click and from which angle. They should know how to capture initial appearance of the crime scene and evidence, as it will become a permanent record for the courts," a department of clinical photography official elaborated; claiming the course to be on par with international standards.

"The syllabus is comprehensive enough in terms of global scenario, yet will also cater to the requirements in Indian perspective. The department is collaborating with some internationally renowned experts, who will visit PGI regularly to mentor students and will also conduct workshops," said the PGIMER official.

"It will produce a different league of photographers for medical institutes, hospitals, corporate healthcare industry, scientific institutes, police, investigative agencies and other fields," he told the HT