Bengaluru medical colleges resume class but with 60% attendance

Medical colleges which opened to students across the state on Tuesday, recorded 60 per cent attendance on the first day. Vice-chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) Dr S Sacchidanand told TNIE that since it was the first day and with classes going on online, colleges were asked to focus on revision classes. Emphasis has also been given to practical classes that have to take place offline. Unlike regular colleges that hold offline classes only for final year students, medical colleges are rolling out classes for all students.

A top RGUHS official said that theory classes will be held in blended mode -- both online and offline -- and students will be divided into batches to cut the load per class by half. While practicals will be compulsorily held offline, the official said that students are expected to visit hospitals and treat patients.

They will be divided into batches -- medical, suregery, pediatrics, operation theatre -- and distributed in various blocks. There are also institutes marking higher attendance than the average. For instance, the dean of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) Dr CR Jayanthi said that first-year students attended classes on Tuesday, marking 90 per cent attendance, while second and third-year students will attend classes from Wednesday.

Theory and clinicals are being held online and offline, while practicals will be held offline with 30 students in each batch. Two medical colleges, SSIMS and JJM Medical College in Davanagere, also saw a high influx of students. Dr Prasad, principal of SSIMS, told TNIE that as per directions of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, about 60 per cent of medical students of all semesters attended college and we are expecting complete strength within a week. Students who tested negative for Covid-19 attended the first day of class.

Students were tested at the inhouse SSIMS lab, negating the need to visit an external test facility. Sources in JJM Medical College said that out of 432 firstyear and final-year students, only 380 attended college and all students tested Covid-19 negative. As many as 350 students tested negative on Sunday in Davanagere, and as per the District surveillance officer Dr G D Raghavan, tests of 150 students are awaited. In Chitradurga, student strength is steadily increasing. Dr G N Prashanth, principal of Basaveshwara Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Chitradurga, confirmed this to TNIE.

Rguhs has asked its affiliated colleges to restrict in-person classes to only one-third of the class capacity in different batches (for theory classes). Institutions have been asked to take up practical classes with necessary precautions, like PPE and hand hygiene protection. As personal training is reduced due to the pandemic, preference shall be given to final-year students of the respective courses. Students with lower immunity/ or any systemic disease/ respiratory disease/co-morbidities/ immune compromised /pregnancy are asked to avoid posting in high-risk areas / hospitals.

The institute has come up with an elaborate set of advisories for affiliated institutions where Institutions are asked to make necessary arrangement for virtual or online theory classes with proper technology for the benefit of those who have travel restrictions. It has encouraged cost-effective, friendly platform with resource materials such as power points and video sessions, for the blended model.

Class rooms, for those opting for offline classes, are to be well ventilated with all the hygiene facilities. Faculties are expected to discuss and resolve doubts that arise during the teachinglearning sessions and also facilitate counselling when the situation demands. Attendance is mandatory at 80%, which is considered every six months/Annually, as per the faculty, as per university norms. (With inputs from Davanagere and Chitradurga)