Maharashtra University of Health Sciences starts a post-doctoral fellowship programme

Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), the apex body which governs medical colleges in Maharashtra has introduced a post-doctoral fellowship programme with four seats to start with. Earlier similar fellowship programmes for this speciality were available in most developed countries and one had to travel there to undergo this specialised training as no such courses were available so far in India.

Senior Specialist, Educator and internationally recognised colorectal surgeon Dr Parvez Sheikh of the Nova Specialty Surgery, Tardeo, Mumbai, who is also on the board of MUHS for this programme says, “The Association of Colon & Rectal Surgeons of India (ACRSI) was started in 1977 by the Dr R K Menda, one of the pioneers in India. This society has been instrumental in creating awareness about this specialty in the country and training young interested surgeons by conducting Instructional courses, live workshops and conferences. However, this move by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences is welcome as it will now be able to conduct a residency programme to train a young surgeon in the field of colorectal surgery and award a University recognised fellowship.”

Adds Dr M G Bhat, Medical Director of Nova Specialty Surgery, “We welcome this move, as we have seen a huge demand for this kind of surgery among youngsters. Dr Sheikh’s credentials in the sector are par excellence, even on an international platform. Most of the reported problems pertain to common anal problems like piles, fissures and fistulas. However, increasingly patients are coming to us for complex cases such as obstetric injuries, complex and recurrent fistulas and complications after anal surgery. Medical tourism in this is also high not only because of high medico-legal barriers on this subject in western countries, but also because of better treatment for these problems being available in our country.”

Says Arun Jamkar, Vice Chancellor, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, “We recognise that this is an important discipline of medicine and are happy to be the first state in India to provide this post-doctoral fellowship program. In general surgery practice almost 40 per cent surgeries belong to colorectal discipline. 10 per cent of these 40 per cent are complex surgeries and can be handled only by specialists. With this initiative we aim to build this expertise.”

EH News Bureau