Postgraduate medical students from Pune no longer need to move to Mumbai for superspecialty. The state government has given approval to start superspecialty courses in plastic surgery and paediatric surgery at the B J Medical College (BJMC).

“The state government has given the essentiality certificate to Sassoon Hospital and B J Medical College to start M.Ch course in plastic surgery and paediatric surgery. These are full–time three–year residential courses and two seats each for the two surgical courses have been approved,” said orthopaedic surgeon Ajay Chandanwale, dean of Sassoon Hospital and B J Medical College. Other superspecialty branches like neurosurgery, cardiac surgery and uro–surgery are proposed.

ENT surgeon Sameer Joshi, deputy dean of BJMC said, “If everything goes as per the schedule, the admission procedure should start in May this year.”

The Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune, is the only institute in western Maharashtra to offer a course in plastic surgery. “It prefers students who have graduated from its own college and conducts a separate entrance examination,” said Parag Sahasrabudhe, a plastic and cosmetic surgeon and associate professor (plastic surgery) at BJMC.

After getting the state’s approval, the college has applied to the Nasik–based Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), which is responsible for conducting examinations and offering degrees in the state. All colleges and institutions imparting education in health sciences in Maharashtra are affiliated to MUHS.

“The MUHS has appointed an inspection committee to review the infrastructure of our college and respective units to gauge the feasibility of these courses. The inspection is likely to take place in the second or third week of February. After MUHS’s recognition, we will have to apply to the Medical Council of India (MCI) for national recognition,” said Sahasrabudhe. The MUHS recognition allows students to practise in Maharashtra but the MCI recognition will allow them to practise across the country. “At present, the state government has given approval for two seats each in paediatric and plastic surgery. However, the final number of seats will depend on the committee’s inspection report.”

At present, all the superspecialty medical professionals are under the general surgery department at Sassoon Hospital. “Once we get recognition for the M.Ch course, a separate department will be formed for plastic surgery and paediatric surgery,” he said.

Though aesthetic or cosmetic surgery is the popular type of plastic surgery, most of the plastic surgeries are not cosmetic and it includes different types like microsurgery, hand surgery, reconstructive surgery and treatment of burns.

“Paediatric surgery takes care of the repair of congenital anomalies of all children including newborns and treatment of children trauma and all other surgical diseases of children up to 12 to 15 years of age,” said Minakshi Bhosale, a paediatric surgeon at Sassoon Hospital.

• The number of seats available in Maharashra for M. Ch in plastic surgery 15 . Seats for plastic surgery are available at four medical colleges in Mumbai – Grant Medical College, Nair Medical College, KEM Hospital and Sion Hospital and Government Medical College, Nagpur and AFMC, Pune.
• Where as for paediatric surgery there are 15 seats in Maharshtra. They are at KEM Hospital, Sion Hospital, Nair Medical College and state government run J J Hospital in Mumbai.
• The paediatric surgery unit and plastic surgery unit at Sassoon Hospital are 20 bedded each.

M. Ch in plastic surgery and paediatric surgery offer adequate theoretical and practical knowledge to the students to undertake major surgeries with high–level of safety and these professional can find employment opportunities in critical care units in government/private hospitals.

For seeking admission to the M. Ch in plastic surgery and paediatric surgery, candidates must have completed their MBBS with one–year internship and MS/DNB in surgery or orthopedic surgery from an institution approved by the Medical Council of India (MCI)