Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked Health Secretary Narayan Swarup Nigam to look at the possibility of starting a diploma course for doctors on the lines of engineering diplomas to address the "shortfall of" doctors in the state. "Please find out if we can start a diploma course for doctors, just like we have for engineers. Then many children will get a chance to study medicine through diploma course," she said on Thursday at a review meeting of 'Utkarsh Bangla'.


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Stressing the need for meeting the shortage of doctors and nurses at hospitals, she asked the health secretary to form a committee to decide on the legal aspects of such diploma courses to train more doctors for primary healthcare units. The CM also asked the officials to look into the opening of 100 more nursing training institutes in the state.


"The doctors now have to complete their five-year curriculum for a regular MBBS course. They have to study again and then join as junior doctors. There has been an increase in the number of seats, hospitals and patients. If in parallel, there are diploma doctors to cover the primary health centres, it will give a good outcome. This will cater to the growing demand for doctors and population," Mamata asked to Health Secretary N S Nigam.


She also added that by introducing diplomas, the shortage in primary health centres can be met by hiring such diploma holders as doctors. She asked the health secretary to form a committee to decide on the legal aspects of such diploma courses to train more doctors for primary healthcare units.