Odisha: 4 PG courses at AHRCC in the offing

Bhubaneshwar: Four post graduate courses in Pathology, Anaesthesiology, Surgical Oncology and Gynaecological Oncology at the Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre (AHRCC), are likely to start soon. The commencement of these courses has already been delayed by an year, due to administrative hurdles.Two seats are expected to be granted for each of them.

The cancer care authorities are expectant of an MCI commencement for course approval, at the earliest. The apex body has already returned applications of starting MD courses seeking fresh affiliation from the university conducting the course.

The fresh application demand from the MCI has come despite the cancer centre having submitted its letter of consent in April, said Dean of AHRCC, Prof Niranjan Rout. “For MCh courses, we would submit the application in two days,” he further added.

According to Rout, ARHCC will be the first institute to offer PG courses in the absence of MBBS courses.

“We have required infrastructure and staff to run all four courses. While four professionals comprising one professor, associate professor, assistant professor and senior resident are required for MD courses, we have 10,” Rout said. He further mentioned the MCI team’s visit to the institute in the near future, to conduct a feasibility study.

The cancer centre has asked the state government’s permission to start courses in line with those available at Post-graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh and Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPIMS), Lucknow.

The AHRCC’s dream became reality when on September, 15, the centre granted it permission to start post graduate courses with the help of SCB Medical College and Hospital, and state government's consent followed.

The cancer centre’s endeavour for excellence does not end here. The institute further plans to start PG courses similar to those available at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute in Ahmedabad, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in Bengaluru and Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai.