IIT Kharagpur To Offer MBBS Prog From 2021-22 Session

IIT Kharagpur is set to become the first premier technical institute in the country to offer programmes in medicine.

The oldest IIT in the country has announced its plan to roll out MBBS programme with an initial intake of 50 students from the 2021-22 academic session. The programme will be offered by the institute’s upcoming Dr B C Roy Super Speciality Hospital.

According to media reports, the outdoor patient service in the 400-bed hospital is likely to start by this year-end.

“By early next year, we plan to start the indoor facilities in the first phase with 400 beds. Once the hospital is operational, we plan to roll out the MBBS curriculum as per the Medical Council of India guidelines,” IIT Kharagpur Director Prof Sriram Kumar Bhattacharyya was quoted by media as saying.

In September, IIT Kanpur had also announced plans to start a 500-bed super speciality hospital and offer MBBS programme.

According to Prof Bhattacharyya, the plan is to scale up intake of MBBS students to 100 once the second phase of the hospital becomes operational with 750 beds.

“IIT Kharagpur will award MBBS and postgraduate degrees, chart out the curriculum and manage the academic affairs while the day-to-day hospital management will be run by a special purpose vehicle. The hospital’s board of directors will be headed by IIT Kharagpur director and will include senior IIT faculties,” he said.

According to the project director of the super speciality hospital Satadal Saha, the institute’s aim will be to create an entire eco-comprising a nursing college and a school to train paramedical and technical experts.

Saha said they have signed an MoU with AIIMS Delhi as a consultant and would be looking at attracting the best of minds from within and outside the country.

In 2001, IIT Kharagpur had set up a School of Medicine Science and Technology to prepare researchers for fusing engineering with medicine.