Post Graduate Diploma in Community Cardiology

While India has about 100 positions for training Cardiologists (DM and DNB in Cardiology) less than hundred doctors eventually becomes specialists every year. There is wide gap between availability of cardiology expertise and load of cardiac morbidity in rural as well as urban area. Whatever cardiologists are trained, they are employed / practicing in metropolitan cities or large towns. This deprives the large population of our country from the cardiology expertise. In India , where 25% of the population are living below poverty line (2002) and more than 76% of them are lived in rural area, most of the trained cardiologist are concentrated in the costly sophisticated tertiary care hospital which are situated in the urban area. Since high tech hospitals are not only unaffordable but also non-accessible for most of the people of the country. This programme will have a great social relevance. Indians are genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attack than Europeans. While the average age of heart attack victims in Europe is more than 60 years, the average age of Indians is between 40 to 50 making it a disease of breadwinner of the family causing major socio-economic upheavals. Indians are genetically more vulnerable for diabetes at younger age , which again leads to premature atherosclerotic disease leading to heart attack. While in USA every fourth man develops heart attack before retirement in India it is every third man developing heart attack. One out of one thousand children in our country suffer from rheumatic valvular heart disease which if not treated early leads to major complications leading premature death. One out of hundred and forty children born anywhere in the world has heart disease; India produces the largest number of children in the world. So, for obvious reasons we produce the largest number of children with heart disease in the world. A country with billion populations requires at least few thousands of cardiologists to be produced every year to address the growing needs of the heart patients. If a doctor is trained as a Cardiologist after doing his MD in Medicine he obviously prefers to live in major city rather than migrating to smaller towns whereas if an MBBS doctor is given a course in community cardiology his chances of going rural areas is high.

OBJECTIVES

To establish a core programme dedicated to train larger numbers of medical graduates in community cardiology to deal effectively with the early recognition, management and prevention of common cardiovascular diseases (Non Invasive Cardiology) and associated diseases particularly diabetes mellitus.

Eligibility : MBBS (MCI recognise)

Duration : Minimum 2 years; Maximum 4 years

Admission fee : Rs.15,000/- for the 1st year. The fee from second year onward will be Rs. 30,000/- per annum.

Number of seats : Maximum 10 students per centre.

Implementation

The implementation strategies will have 2 main tiers i.e. identified Programme Study Centres (Tertiary level Cardiac Hospitals) across the country and secondly at the identified Skill Development Centres at District / Community Hospitals. Most of the Practical and Theory counselling will be face to face and go concurrently both at the PSCs/SDCs.

Examination & Evaluation

The students would be expected to clear both the theory and the practical separately. The minimum pass percentage for both theory and practical separately would be fifty per cent. In the theory and practical, weightage of thirty per cent for internal assessment and seventy per cent for term end examination. The students would be required to maintain log-books which will be signed before they will be allowed to appear for their term-end practical.

Source: IGNOU official Website