Mumbai: In order to further improve rural health services in a big way, Maharashtra government has initiated a programme where PG medical students and faculty members will go to the slum and Naxal-infested areas across the state to provide medical aid to the people.
"A unit constituting of Post Graduate students, lecturer, associate professor, head of department, resident doctors, will visit rural areas of the state to examine and
treat patients on every Sunday. The programme will begin from May 1," Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Vijay Kumar Gavit told reporters here today.
According to the programme, PG medical students and faculty members will serve in rural areas once a week to provide treatment to patients in all the 35 districts including Bhandara, Gadchiroli, Wardha, Solapur, Beed, Latur, Satara, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Jalgaon, Ratnagiri, Dhule, Sangli and Kolhapur.
The programme is formed in collaboration with the Centre's National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Gavit said, adding "funds of Rs one crore would be made available for
over a period of one year for the project by NRHM."
Talking about the programme, Gavit said, "patients in those areas will get better treatment. Students would get more exposure to various types of patients and diseases (clinical experience). Also, they can even perform minor surgeries under the guidance of senior faculty members."
"With these kinds of regular visits, students will be able to identify different types of diseases practically in a particular area and can even conduct research," he said.
The students and teachers would be given incentives of Rs 2,000 per visit for their work in rural areas, the minister said.
PTI
First Published: Friday, March 05, 2010, 13:23