Kanpur: IIT Kanpur could become the first-ever engineering institute in the country to have its own medical college.
It has set in motion an ambitious plan to set up a 300-bed super speciality hospital spread over 20-acre, offering MD, MS (PG) levels, and eventually MBBS courses in near future, the Indian Express said in a report.
However, before making the hospital functional, IIT-Kanpur will begin by setting up a centre for engineering in medicine. It could start enrolling students from October onwards, offering masters and PhD level courses for 50 seats. Candidates will be selected through JEE and JAM.
“We are preparing a detailed project report with the help of Tata Trust. It should be ready within two months and we will then propose it to the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The official announcement will be made thereafter,” institute director Abhay Karandikar told the newspaper.
Talking about the proposed medical college, he said the funding formalities have not been finalised yet.
The institute’s move is in line with the emerging demands for integrated and inter-disciplinary study combining engineering and biology. World over, the demand for bio-engineering graduates are increasing every passing year, making it one of the most sought after courses.
The GATE-2020 exam, in fact, has introduced a new paper called biomedical engineering.
IITs in Kharagpur, Delhi and Gandhinagar have also introduced similar courses. IIT Kharagpur’s School of Medical Science and Technology runs an interdisciplinary 3 years Masters Program in Medical Science and Technology (MMST) – a first of its kind in the country. The school also offers a 4-semester M.Tech program in Medical Imaging & Informatics.
But IIT Kanpur could raise the bar with its own medical college which will also produce doctors.
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