J&K gets 20 more DNB seats in GMCs, DHs

Jammu: As a step towards strengthening Diplomate of National Board (DNB) in Jammu and Kashmir, 20 more seats have been sanctioned by National Board of Examinations in Medical Science (NBEMS) under DNB for the institutions of J&K during the start of the Session 2023.

An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that these seats would be in addition to the earlier granted DNB seats.

As per the official data, Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar received approval for two seats in FNB Paediatric Anesthesia, JLNM Hospital, Srinagar received three post MBBS DNB seats in General Surgery, DH Udhampur received sanction of five seats under Pediatrics, General Medicine and Orthopedics DH Poonch received two seats in General Medicine DH Ganderbal got sanction for two seats each in DNB General Medicine and Diploma Pediatrics, DH Kulgam received two seats in Family Medicine while Community Health Centre (CHC) Kupwara got two seats in Diploma Pediatrics.

Mission Director, NHM, J&K, Ayushi Sudan, while giving details about the development said that the implementation of the DNB courses at the district level in J&K had been termed as a best practice in the country.

Under the DNB programme in J&K, a total of 250 seats were granted to the accredited departments during session 2022 consequent to the concerted efforts and hard work of the administrative department H&ME J&K, NHM J&K, and the team of health institutions being monitored by Secretary, Health and Medical Education, Bhupinder Kumar.

"All the efforts are being made to scale up the DNB courses in all the district hospitals and potential CHCs of J&K. During the upcoming session, J&K is planning to submit more than 30 applications including almost all district hospitals,” she said.

The DNB courses have been introduced in the district hospitals and new GMCs besides old GMCs and SKIMS to strengthen the institutions, decongest the GMCs, and to address the shortage of specialists in J&K.

Implementation of DNB courses has led to an equitable distribution of healthcare services and manpower especially in far-flung and hard to reach areas.

This has also proved beneficial for the population that has a very meager access to healthcare services in their areas, leading to low referrals from DNB institutions to tertiary care institutions thereby further decreasing the Out of Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) of patients.