Jammu: The National Board of Examination in Medical Science (NBEMS) has sanctioned 20 more Diplomate of National Board (DNB) seats in government medical colleges and district hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir for session 2023, an official spokesman said. These seats will be in addition to the earlier granted DNB seats, he said.
As per official data, the spokesman said, GMC Srinagar received approval for two seats in FNB paediatric anesthesia and Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Hospital, Srinagar three post-MBBS DNB seats in general surgery.
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District Hospital (DH) Udhampur received sanction for five seats under pediatrics, general medicine and orthopedics, DH Poonch received two seats in general medicine and DH Ganderbal got sanction for two seats each in DNB general medicine and diploma pediatrics, he said.
The spokesman said DH Kulgam received two seats in family medicine while Community Health Centre, Kupwara got two seats in diploma pediatrics.
Mission Director, National Health Mission, J-K, Ayushi Sudan said the implementation of the DNB courses at the district level in the Union Territory has been termed as a best practice in the country.
Under the DNB programme, a total of 250 seats were granted to the accredited departments during session 2022 consequent to the concerted efforts of the departments concerned.
"All the efforts are being made to scale up the DNB courses in all the district hospitals and potential community health centres of J-K. During the upcoming session, J-K is planning to submit more than 30 applications covering almost all district hospitals," she said.
The DNB courses have been introduced in the district hospitals and new government medical colleges besides old GMCs and SKIMS in order to strengthen the institutions, decongest the GMCs and to address the shortage of specialists in J-K, the spokesman said.
Implementation of DNB courses has led to an equitable distribution of healthcare services and manpower especially in far-flung and hard-to-reach areas, he said.
It has also proved beneficial for the population who have very meagre access to healthcare services and leading to low referrals from DNB institutions to tertiary care institutions, thereby further decreasing the 'out of pocket expenditure' of patients, he said.
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