Lucknow: Era Medical College launches Department of happiness to manage Stress of MBBS, Nursing and Pharmacy Students

Lucknow: MBBS and other medicos at UP's Era Medical College will be given classes on "happiness" thrice a week, as a part of the medical college's pilot project to encourage stress management amongst its medical students

The pilot project was launched last week to promote stress management in the medical profession and allow doctors and paramedics "to attend to patients with a smile".

These special classes, held three days a week, have brought together experts from various medical disciplines, including medicine, clinical psychology and psychiatry, under one roof with spiritual leaders and motivational speakers.

The classes will be attended by the medical colleges' students under various medical courses including MBBS, BSc Nursing, and Pharmacy. All in all total 290 students will go through the month-long happiness classes.

For the purpose of the pilot project, a special department of happiness has been created at Era Medical College to boost a sense of well-being among students and teachers. If the pilot project is successful, these will later be extended to other departments of Era University, which manages the medical college.

Speaking to media persons here, Head of the happiness department, Professor Meeta Ghosh, said: "Our aim is to strike off negativity, stress, sorrows and sufferings at the institution so that these future doctors and paramedics can pass on their positivity to patients."

The neuroscience behind happiness, perception, general well-being, positive and negative approaches, frustration and tolerance, sympathy, apathy and altruism, and body language and communication are among the wide variety of topics being covered through videos, storytelling, experience-sharing and real-time experimenting.

Vice-Chancellor Abbas Ali Mahdi told IANS, "At the moment, it is just a pilot programme. Grades will depend on how a scientific questionnaire, prepared to assess factors associated with happiness, is answered. A psychologist will rate students after a month and issue certificates. We plan to start a certificate and diploma course in the near future, besides extending the classes to students beyond the medical college."