Medical Colleges to be set up in Wayanad and Kasaragod; MBBS seats to be increased

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government is working hard to set up medical colleges in Wayanad and Kasaragod. This follows the permission received from National Medical Commission to start admission to 100 seats at the Government Medical College in Konni, Pathanamthitta.

The rise in medical seats in government colleges will be a relief to those students who have to travel outside the state for medical studies. After Konni medical college got the nod from the center, the number of seats in the government sector rose to 1655. Once medical colleges are set up at Wayanad and Kasaragod another 200 seats will be available in the government sector.

Procedures are on foot to upgrade the Mananthavady district hospital to that of a Medical College. The government has handed over 65 acres of land from the Glenlovel estate to build the administrative block. The district hospital has 8.74 acres of land. New posts for 125 teachers and 15 non-teaching staff have been created. A hospital with 500 beds will be built at a total cost of Rs.308 crore.

The land for a medical college in Kasaragod has been found and primary constructions have begun.

Education experts say that even if the medical seats are increased in the state, there won’t be a dip in the number of students going to foreign countries for MBBS studies. The cost of studying in a self-financing medical college in Kerala is Rs.1.25 crore. However, the cost is not high to study medicine in many foreign countries.

Students go to 51 countries across the world to study medicine from Kerala. According to NORKA, since 16 April, the number of students who went abroad to study medicine was 1423.