MADURAI: All 50 MBBS seats of Madurai AIIMS, which is expected to start operating from a temporary site on the Ramanathapuram Government Medical College campus next month, have been filled during the first round of counselling that concluded last week, executive director (ED) of the institute M Hanumantha Rao told TNIE.
Recruitment of faculty for the four first-year subjects of anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and community medicine will be completed in a month, he said. Health Minister Ma Subramanian on January 13 said classes would be conducted on the temporary campus till work is completed at the Madurai Thoppur facility. Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan on January 25 wrote to the Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and executive director of Madurai AIIMS, urging them to expedite faculty recruitment.
“The academic programme of Madurai AIIMS can be conducted at Ramanathapuram Medical College for the next two years, with 50 students being admitted per year. A temporary administrative office will be created at the Government Hospital for Thoracic Medicine in Thoppur to house project cell offices,” the letter, accessed by TNIE, said.
Expenses relating to recruitment, laboratories, and other facilities of the temporary campus should be borne by the Union government, the letter said. During an exclusive interaction with TNIE, Rao said, “The counselling for admission to MBBS in Madurai AIIMS is being conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) and the Directorate General of Health Services based on NEET scores.
All 50 seats have been allotted during the first round of counselling that concluded last week. For verification of certificates and fee payment, candidates will have to report at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, which is the mentor institute for Madurai AIIMS from February 2 to February 5.”
According to the prospectus released on January 28, selected candidates must have taken at least one dose of the Covid vaccine and must produce the vaccination certificate at JIPMER during admission. The classes are likely to begin in Ramanathapuram in March, the ED said. Professors of AIIMS Mangalagiri in Andhra Pradesh will conduct online classes for the first few days. Students will be lodged at a separate wing in the newly-constructed hostel of the Ramanathapuram Government Medical College,” he said.
“As the arrangement at Ramanathapuram is only for two years, the medical college, hostel, and staff quarters’ buildings will be constructed first in Thoppur during the first phase. The work on the hospital will start later. Construction may start in about six months,” Rao said.