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218 PGI doctor get medals, over 1.7K awarded degrees at convocation
Centre is committed to provide the best and affordable quality healthcare to the people of India, said Union minister of state for health and family welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar
At least 218 doctors were presented medals for their distinct academic excellence and 1,775 doctors were presented degrees for the successful culmination of their courses in various medical streams at the 36th convocation of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh on Thursday.
The event was organised at the PGIMER after a gap of four years (after 2019) due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The degrees and medals were awarded by Union minister of state for health Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, along with Padma Bhushan Awardee and former director of the institute Dr KK Talwar. Director Dr Vivek Lal, dean (academics) Dr NK Panda, and registrar Ummed Mathur were also present.
“PGIMER has been a brand in itself in the field healthcare since decades because of its rigorous academic curriculum, high standards of patient care and enabling environment for research and innovation,” said the Union minister, adding that catering to patient load of over 25 lakhs during last year alone, PGIMER played a vital role in changing the healthcare landscape of the country by contributing towards the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Heal in India, Heal by India.”
“PGIMER’s contributions during the Covid-19 pandemic are remarkable as the country significantly and successfully managed the pandemic with 220 crores of vaccination and even managed to send vaccines to 100 other countries under ‘Vaccine Maitri Programme.’ Also, the central government is strengthening medical infrastructure with having 23 AIIMS now, of which 10 are functional, as compared to only one AIIMS in 2014,” the minister added.
While highlighting the accomplishments of PGIMER, director Dr Vivek Lal, stated, “PGIMER has set such high ideals of medical professionalism in mitigating the sufferings of the ailing humanity that it has become the first port of call for patients with many serious and chronic illnesses. Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, PGIMER has already catered to around 90,000 patients, which is the highest by any public sector hospital in the country. The organ transplant programme in PGIMER is one of the most prolific in the public sector hospitals. What is heartening is that with 278 renal transplant surgeries have been done till date in 2023 and we have already surpassed the numbers accomplished during the last year.”
Tale of gold medallists
It was a day to remember for Dr S Niteesh Bhardwaj, who completed his MD in Paediatrics from PGI, as he walked up to the stage thrice to receive his medals for best outgoing student at the institute, best outgoing student of the department and for a gold medal in Kataria Memorial Gold Medal (for the year 2019-20) for securing maximum marks. A resident of Bangalore, who is now enrolled in a fellowship in paediatric oncology and hematology in London, PGI is the best institute for paediatrics, with an exceptional facility and it was his dream to graduate from this institute.
The first doctor in her family, Dr Alisha Babbar from Rajpura, did her MBBS from Himachal Pradesh and won Kataria Memorial Gold Medal for 2020-21, and bronze for academics and the institute medal from PGIMER on Thursday. She is now pursuing her DM in paediatric gastroenterology from PGI.
The associate professor from neonatology department, PGIMER, Dr Jogender Kumar received a gold medal for his research on “Platelet transfusion for PDA closure in preterm infants: A randomised controlled trial”.
