| Program Description |
MD. COMMUNITY MEDICINE
Goal
The goal of postgraduate medical education shall be to produce a competent specialist and / or a medical teacher as stated in the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations 2000 and its amendments thereof [May2018]
(i) Who shall recognize the health needs of the community, and carry out professional obligations ethically and in keeping with the objectives of the national health policy.
(ii) Who shall have mastered most of the competencies, pertaining to the specialty, that are required to be practiced at the secondary and the tertiary levels of the health care delivery system.
(iii) Who shall be aware of the contemporary advances and developments in the discipline concerned.
(iv) Who shall have acquired a spirit of scientific inquiry and is oriented to the principles of research methodology and epidemiology, and
(v) Who shall have acquired the basic skills in teaching of the medical and paramedical professionals.
General Objectives
At the end of the postgraduate training in the discipline concerned the student shall be able to:
(i) Recognize the importance of the concerned specialty in the context of the health need of the community and the national priorities in the health sector.
(ii) Practice the specialty concerned ethically and in step with the principles of primary health care.
(iii) Demonstrate sufficient understanding of the basic sciences relevant to the concerned specialty.
(iv) Identify social, economic, environmental, biological and emotional determinants of health in a given case, and take them into account while planning therapeutic, rehabilitative, preventive and promotive measures/strategies.
(v) Diagnose and manage majority of the conditions in the specialty concerned on the basis of clinical assessment, and appropriately selected and conducted investigations.
(vi) Plan and advice measures for the prevention and rehabilitation of patients suffering from disease and disability related to the specialty.
(vii) Demonstrate skills in documentation of individual case details as well as morbidity and mortality data relevant to the assigned situation.
(viii) Demonstrate empathy and humane approach towards patients and their families and exhibit interpersonal behaviour in accordance with the societal norms and expectations.
(ix) Play the assigned role in the implementation of national health programs, effectively and responsibly.
(x) Organize and supervise the chosen/assigned health care services demonstrating adequate managerial skills in the clinic/hospital or the field situation.
(xi) Develop skills as a self-directed learner; recognize continuing educational needs, select and use appropriate learning resources.
(xii) Demonstrate competence in basic concept of research methodology and epidemiology, and be able to critically analyse relevant published research literature.
(xiii) Develop skills in using educational methods and techniques as applicable to the teaching of medical/nursing students, general physicians and paramedical health workers.
(xiv) Function as an effective leader of a team engaged in health care, research or training.
Statement of the Competencies
Keeping in view the general objectives of postgraduate training, each discipline shall aim at development of specific competencies, which shall be defined and spelt out in clear terms. Each department shall produce a statement and bring it to the notice of the trainees in the beginning of the program so that he or she can direct the efforts towards the attainment of these competencies.
Components of the PG Curriculum
The major components of the PG curriculum shall be:
• Theoretical knowledge
• Practical/clinical Skills
• Training in writing thesis/research articles
• Attitudes, including communication.
• Training in research methodology, medical ethics & medicolegal aspects
• Teaching skills to the undergraduates, juniors and support teams.
The purpose of PG education is to create specialists who would provide high quality health
care and advance the cause of science through research & training.
He/she should be equipped with the knowledge, skills, competencies in primary,
secondary & tertiary care, control and prevention of outbreaks/epidemics, community
diagnosis, health needs assessment, epidemiological assessment, research and planning
evidence-based health policies and programmes.
b) GENERAL OBJECTIVES
1. To create a skilled cadre of medical professionals having expertise in application of
principles of Public Health, Community Medicine and applied epidemiology,
contributing meaningfully in formulating National Health Policies & Programmes
with a systems approach for overall human development.
2. To standardize the teaching & training approaches at postgraduate level for
Community Medicine.
3. Research: To formulate research questions, do literature search, conduct study with an
appropriate study design and study tool; conduct data collection and management,
data analysis and report.
c) SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES:
At the end of the course the student should be able to acquire the following competencies
under the three domains, Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor:
A. Cognitive domain (The student should be able to):
1. Describe conceptual (and applied) understanding of Public Health, Community
Medicine, clinical and disease-oriented approach, preventive approach & health
promotion & disease control.
2. Have knowledge about communicable and non-communicable diseases, emerging and
re-emerging diseases, their epidemiology, control and prevention.
3. Apply the principles of epidemiology, health research and Bio-statistics, application
of qualitative research methods, measurement of risk and other relevant health and
morbidity indicators.
4. To describe nutritional problems of the country, role of nutrition in health and
disease, describe common nutritional disorders, develop nutrition plan for an
individual based on his requirements and with concerns to special situations if
applicable & plan comprehensive programme to address issue of malnutrition in a
given area for a specific group.
5. To describe the concept of Environmental Health and its various determinants,
identify environmental health issues in a given area/community, assess impact of
adverse environmental conditions on health of human beings, plan awareness
programmes at various levels on environmental issues and mobilize community
resources and participation to safeguard from local adverse environmental
conditions, should be able to provide technical advice for water purification,
chlorination, installing gobar gas plant, construction of soakage pits etc. & be a
technical expert to advice on protection measures from adverse environmental
exposure.
6. To describe the working of Primary Health Care system, Panchayat Raj system,
National Health Programmes, urban/rural differences, RCH, Demography and Family
Welfare.
7. Do orientation of the inter-linkage of health sector and non-health sector for
promotion of Health & control and prevention of diseases.
8. Have knowledge of Health Care Administration, Health Management and Public
Health Leadership & have familiarity with administrative procedures and protocols.
Understand and express implications of ‘Poverty Line’, ‘Social Inclusion’, ‘Equity’,
‘taxations’, ‘Insurance’ on Health care management.
9. To describe Health Policy & Plans, Medical Education technology, Information
Technology and integration of alternative Health system including AYUSH & have
knowledge about role of media and its use in health.
10. To describe the intricacies of Social & Behavioral sciences and their applications &
Identify behavior pattern of individual or group of individuals detrimental or
adversely affecting their health.
11. To describe & create awareness about various Public Health Legislations.
12. To understand and describe International Health & Global Diseases surveillance &
Develop workable interventions for control and prevention of emerging and reemerging
diseases at local, national and global level.
13. To relate the history of symptoms with specific occupation, diagnostic criteria,
preventive measures, identification of various hazards in a specific occupational
environment and legislations.
14. To keep abreast of recent advances in Public Health & formulate feasible, optimal,
sustainable, cost effective strategies in response to the advances in public health &
development.
15. To describe the principles of Health Economics and apply it in various public health
settings & evaluate cost effectiveness and cost benefits of a Health Program.
16. To explain and correlate common health problems (medical, social, environmental,
economic and psychological) of urban slum dwellers, organization of health services
in urban slum areas.
17. Define and identify vulnerable, under-privileged high risk communities and their
special needs.
18. To categorize hospital waste and be able to guide for proper disposal.
19. To provide a comprehensive plan for disaster management and mitigation of
sufferings.
B. Affective domain:
1. Should be able to function as a part of a team, develop an attitude of cooperation with
colleagues and interact with the patient and the clinician or other colleagues to
provide the best possible diagnosis or opinion.
2. Always adopt ethical principles and maintain proper etiquette in dealings with
patients, relatives and other health personnel and to respect the rights of the patient
including the right to information and second opinion.
3. Develop communication skills to word reports and professional opinion as well as to
interact with patients, relatives, peers and paramedical staff for effective teaching.
C. Psychomotor domain:
The student should be able to perform independently the following:
Conduct community surveys for assessment of health & morbidity profile,
epidemiological determinants, assessment of health needs, disease surveillance,
evaluation of health programmes and community diagnosis.
Conduct outbreak investigations, do spot maps, predict disease trends, preparation of
reports, planning and implementation of control measures.
Demonstrate clinical skills of preparing case history, examination, provisional
diagnosis, treatment and clinical case management and interpretation of laboratory
findings. Conduct common procedures such as incision, drainage, dressings &
injections.
Do data collection, compilation, tabular and graphical presentation, analysis and
interpretation, applying appropriate statistical tests using computer-based software
application for validation of findings.
Conduct epidemiological research studies to establish cause-effect relationships in
elaborating the epidemiology of diseases and health events.
Develop appropriate IEC Material, assessment of community communication needs,
training skills, counselling skills, conduct Health Education Programmes in urban and
rural settings.
Conduct dietary surveys, assessment of nutritional status, nutritive values of common
food menus, detection of food adulterants, use of lactometer, recording and
interpretation of growth and development charts.
Use and apply various instruments and processes concerned with environmental
health and biological waste management eg. waste collection, segregation and
disposal as per protocols, needle-disposers, disinfection procedures. Also use of Dosimeters,
Kata / Globe Thermometer, Slings Psychomotor, Gobar Gas Plant, Soakage
pit, Solar Energy, functioning of ILRs, Deep Freezers, Cold Boxes, Vaccine Carriers.
Identify different types of mosquitoes, detect vector breeding places and orientation of
the methods of elimination of breeding places and placement of mosquito proof water
tank.
Conduct clinical screening of various diseases and organize community health camps
involving community participation in urban and rural settings. Use of Snellen charts
for vision, Ischiara’s chart for colour blindness, tourniquet tests for dengue diagnosis
in fever, BMI and other physical measurements of infants, children and adults,
copper-T insertions, preparation of pap smear etc.
Conduct tests for assessment of chlorine demand of water (Horrock’s Apparatus),
procedure of well-water and urban water-tank chlorination, assessment of
chlorination levels, physical examination of water, methods of domestic water
purification & orientation in use of water filters.
Prepare health project proposals with budgeting based on the project objectives.
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