TERMING IT as a testimony to the hospital’s continuous focus on education, the Bangalore Baptist Hospital administration has received the ‘National Award for Excellence in Teaching for Accredited Hospitals (DNB program)’ by the National Board of examination.

One of south India’s leading multi specialty mission hospital was conferred the prestigious award by Meira Kumar, Lok Sabha Speaker in the presence of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health and Family Welfare and other eminent dignitaries at the 17th annual convocation of the National Board of Examinations held at Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi.

Receiving the award, Dr. Alexander, Director and CEO of the hospital said: “I have received this award on behalf of the entire Baptist team. This recognition is a testimony to the hospital’s continued focus on health education. At Baptist we take immense pride in imparting the highest quality of knowledge to our students and this particular award will only help us to deliver even better results in the future. While I am thrilled at the recognition given to our team’s contribution, it shall be our mission to continue our humanitarian work with greater passion in the days to come.”

Baptist fulfilled the following eligibility criteria to win the award: a). Distinguished professional standing of NBE accredited department, b) Hospital/Institute of Good Standing, valuable Contribution to DNB Programme and c) Proven track record as determined by successful candidates in exit exam.

Two of the students who were studying Post Graduation at the hospital Dr. Nitya (General Surgery) and Dr. Sandhya (OBG) have gone on to win gold medals in the recently concluded Diplomate National Board examinations, bringing the total tally of gold medals to four. “This is indeed a great achievement that has inspired the National Board to recognize the institution as the best teaching hospital in India, the hospital stated. The Diplomate qualifications awarded by the National Board of Examinations have been equated with the postgraduate and post doctorate degrees awarded by other Indian Universities by the Government of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; vide their notifications issued from time to time,” according to hospital press release.

The importance of a patient centred, ethical clinical practice is stressed. The academic and clinical workloads, although subject to assessments, are brought together as the integrated workload and incorporated within an integrated job plan. The hospital is recognized for DNB programmes in the disciplines of Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Orthopedics, Anesthesiology and Oto-rhino-laryngology. The students are given value based education and are exposed to the latest developments in the art and science of medicine. In addition to the major general departments, they are also given training in the super specialty fields like Cardiology, Neurology, Endocrinology, Rheumatology, Critical Care, Pulmonology, Nephrology, Neonatology, Reproductive Medicine, Pediatric Surgery, Urology, Plastic Surgery and Neurosurgery.

The hospital also boasts of other sub specialties like Orthodontics, Pedodontics, Head and Neck Oncosurgery and Retina Surgery.

The National Board of Examinations was established in 1975 with the prime objective of improving the quality of the Medical Education by elevating the level and establishing standards of post graduate examinations in modern medicine on an all India basis. There are more than 149 recognized Medical Colleges in the country. In addition to Postgraduate teaching institutions under MCI, there are 450 accredited institutions imparting training in various Broad and Super specialities for the award of postgraduate qualification in Broad and super specialities. The Board at present conducts postgraduate and postdoctoral examinations in 54 disciplines approved by the Board for the award of Diplomate of National Board. The Medical Council of India has laid down standards for post graduate examinations conducted by various medical colleges and affiliated to concerned universities and other institutions, yet the levels of proficiency and standards of evaluation vary considerably in these institutions.

The setting up of a National Body to conduct post graduate medical examination was intended to provide a common standard and mechanism of evaluation of minimum level of attainment of the objective for which post graduate courses were started in medical institutions. Moreover, intra country and international comparison is facilitated with the availability of commonly accepted evaluation mechanism.