Medical Education Unit

I. OVERVIEW

About MEU

The Medical Council of India (MCI), by the MCI Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997, made it mandatory for all medical colleges to establish Medical Education Units (MEUs) to oversee and innovate in Medical Education in order to enable faculty members to avail modern education technology for teaching and bringing out competent basic doctors at the Graduate and Masters level in basic sciences, broad specialities and higher specialities. In compliance with these regulations, the Medical Education Unit (MEU) of Sri Muthukumaran Medical College Hospital & Research Institute (SMMCH & RI) was established in 2011 and consists of a core team of enthusiastic, committed well trained faculty with advanced qualifications in medical education like Advance Course in Medical Education (ACME), Master of Philosophy in Health Professions Education (M.Phil.) etc. who strive for excellence in Medical Education.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) nodal centre (formerly MCI nodal centre) for Faculty Development of Sri Muthukumaran Medical College Hospital & Research Institute is Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute (SRMC & RI), Chennai. The MEU of SMMCH & RI therefore conducts regular Revised Basic Course Workshops & Attitudes, Ethics & Communication skills (AETCOM) training and Curriculum Implementation Support Programmes (like CISP I and II for MBBS Phase I and Phase II faculty respectively) under the aegis of SRMC & RI and liaises with their NMC Task Force for the implementation and monitoring of the newly introduced Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum which has been rolled out in India from the 2019 batch of MBBS students.

Objectives

The main objectives of the Medical Education Unit are to Ensure faculty development by conducting periodic Faculty Development Programs (FDPs) and workshops as mandated by the National Medical Council (NMC)
Be responsible for the oversight of the curriculum through the Curriculum Committee in addition to supporting, enabling and facilitating the faculty to deliver the curriculum
Ensure curriculum planning and development
Enable and facilitate the faculty in the delivery of the curriculum, its evaluation and improvement.
Provide oversight for the educational activities of undergraduate and postgraduate students (UG & PG students) at SMMCHRI.
Update the faculty of the medical college about the current trends in Medical Education
Facilitate medical educational research
Liaise with the Regional/Nodal centres of the National Medical Commission (NMC)

Functioning

The MEU generally meets a minimum of 10 times a year; however numerous need-based additional meetings are called for, especially after the implementation of the Competency-Based curriculum. Predetermined agenda is circulated to all members; members deliberate on the issues raised during the meeting; minutes are maintained and this is followed by appropriate action being taken

Curricular Support and Faculty Development

To ensure continuous quality improvement in medical education and aware of the important role played by faculty development in ensuring the curricular reforms proposed by the NMC for the benefit of students are planned, implemented and evaluated effectively and efficiently by faculty in alignment with the NMC initiatives, the MEU of SMMCH & RI conducts the following Faculty Development programmes and offers the following support:

Faculty Development programmes
We have been conducting regular periodic Basic and Revised Basic Course Workshops and AETCOM training under supervision of the NMC Observer from the NMC Nodal centre for Faculty Development, Sri Ramachandra Medical College Hospital and Research Institute.
In 2021, we have a unique distinction of having conducted two Revised Basic Course Workshops under supervision of NMC Observers from the NMC Nodal centre for Faculty Development, Sri Ramachandra Medical College Hospital and Research Institute in order to train more faculty.
We have also been conducting Curriculum Implementation Support Programmes I and II for aiding the MBBS Phase I and Phase II faculty to smoothly and effectively transition to the Competency-based Curriculum that has recently been introduced by the NMC in India from 2019.
Additionally, we endeavour to conduct need based focused Faculty Development Programmess each year.
We encourage participation of MEU members and faculty of the institution in other Faculty Development Programmes, Medical Education Conferences and CMEs and aim to foster a spirit of lifelong learning
A PG Orientation Programme is conducted with the objective of orienting the new First year Postgraduate (PG) degree (MD/MS) students to their roles, goals and responsibilities and empowering them with an overview of the required basic knowledge, skills and attitudes that they require to function effectively in their new role as PG students of SMMCH & RI.
An UG Orientation program for I MBBS Undergraduate (UG) Students (as an initial part of their Foundation Course) is conducted every year as mandated by the NMC to provide the new MBBS student a greater understanding of the medical profession in a historical, local and national context, a knowledge of the institution in which he/she will spend the next six years, and an idea of his/her role as an MBBS student. As part of the Orientation Programme, the students are given an Introduction to the institution / campus and its numerous facilities; role of doctors in the society; history of Medicine and alternate systems; : Indian Medical Graduate (IMG) roles, along with an overview of the MBBS curriculum and various career pathways and basic principles of family practice
Curricular Support & assistance in planning and implementation of UG and PG Curriculum is provided to the faculty of the institution across phases as per the new NMC Curricular Governance guidelines; annual timetables for each MBBS phase are created with the help of the respective Curriculum Subcommittee (CSC), Foundation Course team and Alignment/Integration team (AIT) and approved; oversight of the curriculum is provided through the Curriculum Committee.

Faculty Strength & Academic Achievements

Dr. Suzanne Maria D’cruz has been awarded the degree of Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Health Professions Education from Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry in 2021.
Dr. Suzanne Maria D’cruz (2014), Dr. R. Sukumar (2015 A), Dr. Mehandi V. Mahajan (2015 B), Dr. J. Selvakumar (2017 B) and Dr. J. Nithyalakshmi (2018 B) have completed the project based Advance Course in Medical Education from the National Medical Commission (NMC) Nodal Centre for Faculty Development, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute.
Dr. B. Uganath Subash and Dr. Jai Vinod Kumar are currently pursuing Advance Course in Medical Education from the National Medical Commission (NMC) Nodal Centre for Faculty Development, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute.
All other MEU members have completed the Revised Basic Course Workshop in Medical Education Technologies and AETCOM training

Research & Scholarship of teaching

Six completed Medical Educational Research projects presented by the MEU faculty as E-posters during the Advance Course in Medical Education (ACME) and as a dissertation during the M.Phil in HPE, two ongoing Medical Educational Research ACME projects and many other Medical Education Research publications.

II. FACULTY

Medical Education Unit of SMMCH & RI
S. No.	Name of the Faculty	Designation	Position
1.	Dr. B. Kasinathan	Dean, SMMCH & RI	Chairman
2.	Dr. GanesanMurugaperumal M.D.,	Vice Principal, SMMCH & RI	Vice-Chairman
3.	Dr. Suzanne Maria D’cruz	Professor, Physiology	Coordinator
4.	Dr. G. Sumathi	Professor & Head, Microbiology	Member
5.	Dr. R. Sukumar	Professor & Head, General Medicine	Member
6.	Dr. J. Nithyalakshmi	Professor, Microbiology	Member
7.	Dr. S. Muthukumar	Professor, Physiology	Member
8.	Dr. J. Selvakumar	Associate Professor, Physiology	Member
9.	Dr. V. Raju	Associate Professor, Paediatrics	Member
10.	Dr. Uganath Subash B.	Associate Professor, Orthopaedics	Member
11.	Dr. C. R. Parvathavarthine	Associate Professor, Anatomy	Member
12.	Dr. Navya C.N.	Associate Professor, Anaesthesiology	Member
13.	Dr. Jai Vinod Kumar	Associate Professor, General Surgery	Member
14.	Dr. V. SriSanthanaKrishnan	Assistant Professor, Community Medicine	Member

Curriculum Committee of SMMCH & RI
S. No.	Name of the Faculty	Designation
1.	Dr. B. Kasinathan	Dean, SMMCH & RI, Professor, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
1.	Dr. GanesanMurugaperumal M.D.,	Vice Principal Professor,Department of Anatomy
2.	Dr. Suzanne Maria D’cruz	MEU Coordinator, SMMCH & RI, Professor, Department of Physiology
3.	Dr. J. Selvakumar	Associate Professor, Department of Physiology
4.	Dr. J. Nithyalakshmi	Professor, Department of Microbiology
5.	Dr. R. Sukumar	Professor & Head, Department of General Medicine
6.	Dr. Uganath Subash	Associate Professor, Department of Orthopaedics
7.	Ms. Pavithra B.	Student representative

III.FACILITIES

The Medical Education Unit of Sri Muthukumaran Medical College Hospital & Research Institute (SMMCH & RI) is located in the third floor of the Medical College Block. The MEU has excellent infrastructure and facilities and is designed to comfortably accommodate around 30 participants along with the resource persons in a workshop format as per NMC requirements in a pleasing and professional academic ambience.

The facilities in the MEU include

A large area for conducting the sessions, plenary with a capacity of 40-50 participants which is well equipped with audio-visual aids like two Multimedia PCs that are internet enabled with colour monitors and connectivity with printers, digital photography and scanners; one Scanner + Printer + Copier; two Multimedia LCD Projectors, two white screens for projection; a whiteboard; four cordless mikes and two collar mikes, one Overhead Projector and one laptop.
Four partitioned Workshop areas with a capacity of 8 to 10 equipped with Flip boards and Flip charts for conducting the four group activities and tasks during the workshops
One Office room to house the MEU documents
Access to e-books, journals, books and other resources through the central library

IV.EVENTS CONDUCTED/ACTIVITIES

S. No

Date

Academic Programme

29.09.2020 to 30.09.2020

(2 days)

Curriculum Implementation Support Programme II (CISP II) Online conducted by the MEU of SMMCH & RI under supervision of the NMC Nodal Centre for Faculty Development, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute.