PG medical students to be on Char Dham yatra duty

NEW DELHI : The

National Medical Commission

(NMC) has decided that posting postgraduate medical students for medical duties during the

Char Dham Yatra

will be subsumed under the

district residency programme

(DRP).
DRP is a mandatory three-month rotational posting for all medical residents in district level health facilities so they can understand the problems at the community level. Referring to the posting for the Char Dham Yatra, the NMC said in a circular on Friday that it considers the posting, which will be voluntary in nature, as a potential benefit to postgraduate training.
The Char Dham — Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri — are located above 10,000 feet in the Garhwal Himalayas and the yatra begins on April 30. Unlike other places, the NMC circular said, the health needs here will be under different circumstances. “People will be exposed to high altitude-related medical complications. This will provide new opportunities for training of postgraduates. Govt of Uttarakhand has also appealed for healthcare services to be supported by other resources. Several post-graduate doctors are also volunteering to serve,” the NMC said.