From the coming academic year, 17 government medical colleges in the state will have skill labs to help students pursuing medical courses to get hands-on experience.
Considering that the students get little exposure to gain experience during the course, the state department of medical education has decided to set up skill labs akin to simulation centre at the Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI).
On Tuesday, Minister for Higher and Medical Education Dr C N Ashwath Narayan announced this during his visit to the Victoria Hospital and BMCRI.
Speaking to reporters, the minister said: “These labs will help students to get experience in attending patients. At the centres, there will be mannequins through which students can get basic knowledge on giving an injection and administering IV fluids among others. They will also get to study anatomy and skin-related matters.”
However, according to officials, the idea behind setting up simulation centres is basically due to the lack of availability of patients for the students to gain experience.
“It has become difficult for medical colleges to get patients when it comes to learning. Students at medical colleges are falling short of patients for the study, as most patients will not agree for it,” said a senior professor of BMCRI.
Healthcare museum
A dedicated Healthcare Museum will come up at the Victoria Hospital premises soon. The existing building of Victoria Hospital is about 120 years old. As a new 1000-bed hospital is coming up, the government has decided to convert the existing stone building into Healthcare Museum. The museum will provide training to students of government medical colleges.
Narayan announced this during his visit to the hospital. “Here, we plan to provide the picture of medical education and technology available in the medical education industry, and also about the future of medical education,” said the minister said. He also visited Kidwai hospital.