Union Health Minister JP Nadda has called for enhancement of clinical skills in medical education.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda has said the medical education framework must attend to the "critical requirement" of enhancing clinical skills, which he claimed often get ignored due to the pressure of producing more doctors.
"Due to the pressure of producing more doctors, the clinical skills tend to get ignored. The medical education framework should attend to this critical requirement," Mr Nadda said. He was addressing All India Medical and Dental Students Conference at Raipur on Saturday.
He also emphasised the need to develop a framework for holistic healthcare and well-being, rather than merely sick-care.
"While there is a challenge of manpower in the healthcare sector and there is a focus on quantity, quality is equally important and should not be lost sight of," said Mr Nadda.
Recalling the old concept of the family physician, who used to be a vital part of the healthcare set-up of the family and knew the health issues and needs of the family, Mr Nadda said that there was a need to revive that concept again in the quest to move from sick-care to well-being.
Mr Nadda also appreciated the various innovative initiatives undertaken by the Chhattisgarh government in the health sector and said it has provided a social security to the common masses. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was also present during the occasion.
Earlier in the day, Mr Nadda also distributed Computer Tablets to urban Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) at a function at Raipur.
Stating that the tablets will help the ANMs in more efficient delivery of services to the urban areas, particularly the urban slums, Mr Nadda said that these devices will be useful for real-time data collection and reporting on the various health services being provided under the NUHM.
Observing that record keeping of the data from the field was a "weak link" in effective monitoring of progress of the schemes, the Minister said that the tablets will aid in efficient record keeping and better monitoring.
"These will thus provide a platform for a sturdy MIS system for the NUHM and sharing of experiences and best practises," he said.
The tablets will be distributed to more than 300 urban ANMs in the first phase on a pilot basis. Based on the impact this has on improved delivery of services, the scheme will be expanded to NRHM, he said.
He said that video clips of short duration on different health issues shall be available on the ANM's tablet which will be used to educate and train them and also create awareness among the slum and other areas on various health schemes of the government.
"The tablets will be used to generate necessary alerts (SMS and Voice-based) to the ANMs and beneficiaries. Tablets can also be used as links to other health experts and doctors under the tele-medicine programme of the government," he said.
Accompanied by Chief Minister Ram Singh and state Health Minister Amar Agarwal, Mr Nadda also visited AIIMS Raipur and undertook a comprehensive review visit of the super speciality institute.
Mr Nadda visited various wards and reviewed the facilities at the OPD, OT, diagnostic labs, and medicine wards. He reviewed the construction work under progress at the Institute while he also visited the Medical College and the E-library.