[Assam] NRI doctors bring healthcare home (The Telegraph, 19.08.2008)

[Buljit Buragohain]

NRI doctors bring healthcare home

A STAFF REPORTER 





 

New initiatives at the GMCH 
Aug. 18: They have earned accolades for their professional competency abroad and now they are coming back to serve their own people. 
Some of the best Assamese NRI doctors have joined hands with their counterparts at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) to work towards a healthcare system that is responsive to people’s need.
As the first step, the NRI doctors have floated the North East Clinical Excellence Forum.
It was launched by Jayanta Biswa Sarma, the clinical microbiologist at the National Institute of Health, UK, here in July. 
Sarma will lead the team of NRI doctors, who will share their experience and expertise with local doctors, to ensure quality healthcare facilities accessible to all at the GMCH.
The forum has already launched its website, www.necef.in, which is a platform for discussion and debate on the developments in the field of medical science. It is also planning an online continuous medical education (CME) programme for doctors living in foreign countries and the region. 
GMCH superintendent and honorary secretary of the forum, Prasanta Kumar Bhattacharya, told this correspondent that the organisation would soon start an e-journal, Open Access, to publish good quality research by doctors of the region. 
The forum will also create an electronic platform, which will be accessible via Internet, to archive post-graduate thesis developed in the GMCH and other medical colleges of Assam. 
“We have been putting emphasis on research to make inventions and discoveries in the field of medical science. Research is necessary do develop a healthcare system that would be responsive to the needs of the people. We will support research on specific healthcare issues. The forum recently organised workshops at the GMCH and Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh, on evidence-based medicine,” Bhattacharyya said. 
Evidence-based medicine, he explained, is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of the evidence available in making decisions regarding the care of a patient. The practice of evidence-based medicine implies integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research. 
“Individual clinical expertise means the proficiency and judgement that individual clinicians acquire through clinical experience and practice,” he said. 
The forum will raise awareness about the legal and ethical responsibility of doctors by holding workshops and public meetings. It will also work as a liasing body with outside organisations to help bring vital healthcare resources to hospitals like the GMCH. 
The forum will try and help the government to shape its healthcare policy.
 (The Telegraph,19.08.2008)


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