Bhubaneswar: Postgraduate (PG) medical education in Odisha received a boost after the National Medical Commission (NMC) approved 318 additional seats across government medical colleges and medical institutions in the state.
The total number of PG medical seats in Odisha has now gone up to 938.
PG courses will be offered for the first time in several new government medical colleges.
According to the state’s Health and Family Welfare Department, Dharanidhar Medical College and Hospital, Kendujhar has been allotted the maximum 44 seats in 10 departments.
Government Medical College and Hospital, Sundargarh will get 22 seats in eight departments, Shaheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital, Koraput 28 seats in nine departments, Pabitra Mohan Pradhan Medical College and Hospital, Talcher 32 seats in 10 departments, and Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati Government Medical College and Hospital, Phulbani 27 seats in eight departments.
Among existing medical institutions, Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital, Baripada will now have 53 seats (up from 20), Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital, Balangir 54 seats (up from 10) and Fakir Mohan Medical College and Hospital, Balasore 54 seats (up from 8).
In addition, 11 PG seats have been added at PGIMER and Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar, 17 at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, 3 at Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer, and 11 at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla.
The additional seats have been approved in 14 medical disciplines — Anatomy, Anaesthesiology, Biochemistry, Community Medicine, ENT, General Medicine, General Surgery, Microbiology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Paediatrics, Pathology, Psychiatry and Respiratory Medicine.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling welcomed NMC’s decision, saying that the expansion marked a new chapter in Odisha’s healthcare and medical education sectors.
The increase in PG medical seats from 620 to 938 was not merely an expansion of medical education but a historic step towards producing more skilled and specialist doctors in Odisha.
The minister observed that the introduction of PG courses in Kendujhar, Sundaragada, Koraput, Talcher and Phulbani medical colleges will strengthen regional equity and decentralise access to advanced medical education and healthcare facilities.
