The Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) Society has been at the forefront of health and hospital management, research and training since the early 80s. Its south campus situated in Bangalore, which was established in 2004, has taken forward this legacy by undertaking teaching, research, training and consultancy in pivotal areas like Primary Health Care, Health and Hospital Management, Pharmaceutical Management, Health Economics and Finance. Describing IIHMR Bangalore, Biranchi N Jena, the Director, says, “We have positioned ourselves as an institute that responds to the challenging needs of manpower in the management of the healthcare industry.”
Courses
In 2010, the flagship programme offered by the institute, the two-year full-time Postgraduate Diploma in Hospital and Health Management, was recognised by the All India Council for Technical Education and Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. Apart from these two specialisations, the institute has introduced a discipline called Health Informatics Management which combines technology, healthcare knowledge and management, bridging the divide between healthcare and information technology.
The fees for the courses is `4,80,000 for two years. “This field is relatively new and is becoming popular of late. There are a few colleges offering this course. But I chose IIHMR because it is one of the best in the country,” says Jasnoor Singh, a second-year student specialising in Health and Hospital Management.
Apart from this, the college regularly conducts training programmes for working professionals who would like to keep themselves updated with the latest concepts, ideas, tools, and techniques in managing health systems. The cost for the training programmes starts from `12,000. Besides offering Management Development Programmes, the institute also conducts training programmes for organisations specifically tailored to suit their requirements.
In the future, they plan to introduce a few certification programmes and executive development programmes through evening and weekend classes. Distance learning and online programmes are also on the cards to help junior and mid-level management professionals. Some of the topics that will be covered through these programmes are quantitative methods in decision making, leadership, public affairs, partnership models like public private partnerships in the healthcare sector. Other areas of interest for various academic and professional development programmes are occupational health, stress and lifestyle management, skill development for nurses, front office staff and other employees of hospitals. “In the next 10 years we hope to start collaborative and customised programmes for various healthcare verticals,” Jena adds.
Research capabilities
The institute has a sound research wing where various research and consultancy projects are carried out. Most of the research focuses on primary health care, health and hospital management, nutrition, child health, population and reproductive health, health economics and finance, NGO management and networking, HIV/AIDS, monitoring and evaluation, quality assurance, operations research, social assessment, survey research and health sector reforms.
So far, the institute has conducted research work for State Government and health organisations most notably the Final and Midterm Evaluation of Urban Slum Health Project in Sambalpur, Odisha, funded by National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Orissa; a project in Tumkur District for Health Management: Swasthya Karnataka funded by NRHM Karnataka and projects for UNICEF and WHO.
“Over the years, the nature and scope of projects and research studies undertaken by us has evolved — from studies involving survey and data generation, we have moved on to exploratory and impact studies of health services and programmes,” Jena says.
Campus
The college, spread over two acres near Electronic City is Wi-Fi enabled with well-equipped labs and conference halls. There is a volleyball court, basketball court, a gym and other sports facilities as well. The library has a wide range of academic books, journals and periodicals. In addition to this, it has a well-maintained digital library for the use of students with a database of more than 41,000 e-journals. The campus also houses a hostel for outstation students.
Placements
Over the last two years, the college has been able to get its students placed in various hospitals and healthcare organisations in the country with an average salary of `4.5 lakh. Hospitals like Manipal, Cloud Nine, Columbia Asia; health software companies like IMS Health and multinational companies like Deloitte, Cognizant and Dell visit the campus. Says Vaishnavi Reddy, who graduated from IHMR in 2013, “The placements start from October every year. The placement cell conducts various training sessions to groom the students and help them face the interviews.” This year, around 75 per cent of the students have already received job offers.
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