Wednesday, 03 March, 2010
Chennai: With more than 17% of the city’s population having diabetes and an equal number having hypertension, the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University has decided to revise its syllabus from the next academic year to focus more on lifestyle diseases. Presently, the MBBS curriculum devotes just one lecture to such disorders. “The impact diabetes has on every organ warrants more importance for the disorder in the syllabus,” said Dr V Mohan, who heads the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation.

An orthopedic surgeon, Dr Mayilvahanan knows how obesity adds to the stress on bones. “It’s a known risk factor for several other disorders and diseases. Many people still go to MBBS doctors for minor ailments. If we train them to diagnose diseases early, disease management will get a lot easier,” he said. Many senior doctors agree. “It’s actually ridiculous that we ask students to identify rare diseases during their practicals. It’s possible that they don’t even get to see these cases in their practice. But what they see often are cases of diabetes, hypertension, acid reflux and ulcers, which are neither taught nor discussed in detail in classrooms,” said head of surgical gasteroentrology, Stanley Medical College and Hospital, Dr R Surendran.

The university is also planning to make it mandatory for students to attend advance trauma life support courses when they do internship. “We want house surgeons to know how to do cardiac pulmonary resuscitation when a patient is wheeled in after suffering a heart attack. We want them to know how they should handle a patient with a head, neck or shoulder injury. These are never a part of the course,” said Dr Mayilvahanan.

The revised syllabus will also include better communication skills for medicos to deal with patients and relatives.