New Delhi: The Indian government is set to launch a curriculum focused on digital health for medical professionals, aiming to bridge the gap between healthcare and technology.
In a first, the National Health Authority (NHA) has proposed to introduce an M.Sc programme in digital health.
Considering that healthcare professionals play an important role in facilitating digitization of the healthcare ecosystem in India, the initiative holds significant promise.
The government’s flagship scheme, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) which aims to create a national digital health ecosystem through digital innovations, will develop the back-end infrastructure to support the integrated digital health infrastructure. Under ABDM, 212,553 health facilities have been verified, 198,899 medical professionals registered, and 40.9 million health IDs have been generated.
“There is a need for a skilled workforce to bridge the interface between health and technology. So, the NHA is proposing an M.Sc programme in digital health, designed to equip graduates with an understanding of health and digital technologies along with imparting basic skills for biomedical and social media research, and the essential soft skills needed as a postgraduate in the discipline. Currently, no such course is offered in the country,” said Dr Basant Garg, additional chief executive of NHA in a communication to the chairman of the National Medical Commission.
The NHA has proposed a two-year course, comprising four semesters. The curriculum will have five module clusters—medicine and healthcare, research methodology, digital technology, soft skills and change management.
Bachelor’s degree holders in any health science disciplines, including medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, sociology, anthropology, public health, healthcare administration, or BSc in computer and information science, and biotechnology, may apply for the course. “If at any point NMC decides to constitute a panel to assess the appropriateness of the curriculum or modify it, the NHA would be willing to participate in the exercise,” said Garg.
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