The superspecialty hospital of IIT Kharagpur, Dr B C Roy Institute of Medical Science & Research, is expected to start the outdoor patient department by the end of this year and according to an official source, once the hospital is operational, the premier technological and engineering institute will roll out its MBBS programme from 2021 academic year. In the first phase, the MBBS course in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur will open window of admission for 50 students, which will make the West Bengal-based institute the first IIT to start the undergraduate medical course.
A statement from IIT Kharagpur said the course curriculum will be as per Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines.
According to the plans detailed by the Institute, the number of seats will be extended to 100 with the scaling up of the hospital to 750-bed in phase II.
IIT Kharagpur, which plans to make health care data sciences and data analytics among the primary thrust areas as it ventures into medical research, will introduce Postgraduate degrees in medical sciences eventually.
While the MBBS and postgraduate degrees along with the academic affairs will be managed by IIT Kharagpur, the day-to-day hospital management will be run by the special purpose vehicle floated under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013.
The hospital's board of directors will be headed by the IIT Kharagpur director and will include senior IIT faculty.
A key initiative of the hospital would be to cater to the huge community who are currently away from the reach of superspecialty healthcare services either due to distance or affordability.
The hospital will be run on a cross-subsidy model in a not-for-profit mode.
"While 10% of the beds would be free, 65% of the beds would be charged as per the rates in the central and state health insurance schemes ,"said Officiating Director Prof. Sriman Kumar Bhattacharyya.
Anticipating a heavy influx of patients, the Institute has decided to set up mobile healthcare units to cater to the healthcare needs in the immediate neighbourhood.
"Basic diagnostics and treatment will be done by these mobile units, which will reduce the patient load in the hospital," said Dr Satadal Saha, project director and visiting faculty at IIT Kharagpur.
The Institute has already formed collaborations with All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, Tata Medical Center and South Eastern Railway Hospital.
The Institute has also set up a Common Research & Technology Development Hub supported by DSIR to promote healthcare technology innovation and supporting manufacturing by MSMEs.