India: On the propitious occasion of National Doctor’s Day, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Kalyani, a beacon of medical excellence under the aegis of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, created by an Act of Parliament under the initiative of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY). The MoU was signed in the august presence of Dr. Ramji Singh, Executive Director, AIIMS Kalyani and Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur along with Dr. Kalyan Goswami, Head, Department of Biochemistry and Dean, Academics, AIIMS Kalyani; Col. (Dr.) Ajay Mallick, Head, Dept. of ENT & Medical Superintendent, AIIMS Kalyani; Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti, Dean, Faculty of Bio-Technology and Bio-Sciences; Prof. Soumen Das, Dean, Dr. B. C. Roy Multi-Speciality Medical Research Centre and Prof. Debashish Chakravarty, Associate Dean, Alumni Affairs, International Relations & Branding.

The two premier Institutes in their respective domains have, in principle, agreed for institutional collaboration in education, research outreach programmes and medical services. The primary objective of this collaboration is to promote collective and collative teaching and research collaboration involving faculty members and students at IIT KGP and at AIIMS Kalyani to ensure teaching and research of highest medical standard, carry out joint academic and research programmes, joint supervision of masters and doctoral students as well as collaborative research projects.

On the lines of the above collaboration, Dr. Ramji Singh, Executive Director, AIIMS Kalyani remarked, “AIIMS Kalyani was conceived with the noble objective of bridging regional disparities in tertiary healthcare and fostering excellence in medical education promoting ground-breaking research. AIIMS Kalyani stands as a testament to India’s commitment to healthcare and aims to develop collaborative programmes with premier institutions in India like IIT Kharagpur where the undergraduate and graduate medical students, researchers, doctors and faculty members will rise up to the occasion to lead the healthcare system of India.”

Both the institutes agreed to share professional expertise for infrastructure development and academic resources along with collaborative activities concerning Dr. B. C. Roy Multi-specialty Medical Research Centre (BCRMMRC) at IIT Kharagpur after detailed evaluation by both institutions and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Education, Govt of India. Micro-Specialization and Micro-Credit Courses may be designed for the undergraduate and postgraduate students of the two institutions on a collaborative basis with a vision of appraising them about recent developments in advanced topics relevant to their respective domains of study and internships at respective institutes.

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “On this auspicious day of National Doctor’s Day, IIT Kharagpur joined hands with AIIMS Kalyani on the lines of establishing a research driven medical college, Dr. B. C. Roy Multi-Speciality Medical Research Centre (BCRMMRC) and a hospital, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Superspecialty Hospital (SPMSH) within its campus at Kharagpur. The upcoming medical college will be equipped with state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities embedding world standard technologies and IT connectivity in providing a stimulating academic environment for faculty members willing to stretch their clinical boundaries. The primary objective of this endeavour is to run Undergraduate and Postgraduate Medical programs and to nurture world class translational medical research in a multi-disciplinary environment in collaboration with allied academic partners like AIIMS Kalyani. The hospital in the first phase has started out-patient service, and the in-patient services with critical care and operation theatre to follow.”