According to a press release by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, the institution has launched a Department of Medical Sciences and Technology (https://mst.iitm.ac.in/), which aims to offer a four-year Bachelor of Science (BS) programme in Medical Sciences and Engineering. This course is set to establish a department that will be a first-of-its-kind in India. To propel the course further, Course Coordinator, Prof R Krishna Kumar, Institute Professor, IIT Madras added that an MS and a PhD course will also be offered to the students.
Top medical doctors in India and abroad, who were also closely involved in the development of the curriculum, will be Professors of Practice in this department, which has already established tie-ups with premier hospitals and medical institutions in India.
The Department was launched on Thursday, May 11 in the presence of Lakshmi Narayanan, Co-Founder, Cognizant; Professor V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, and the medical clinicians on the Steering Committee of the department and other stakeholders.
Prof V Kamakoti on the launch said, “Our mission is to unite professionals from medicine and technology to create ground-breaking solutions for medical issues that were once unsolvable."
He said that the aim is to revolutionise healthcare and improve treatments and not only that, the institution would target the long term goals to enable equality and affordable healthcare to every citizen of the country.
What would the course offer?
The course offers an interdisciplinary approach to prepare students for designing life-saving medical devices, drug discovery, artificial intelligence in medicine and fundamental medical research.
The department will also train physicians to effectively apply technology in their clinical practice and lay the foundation for physician-scientists training in India.
Addressing the inaugural function, Lakshmi Narayanan, Co-Founder, Cognizant, said, “Collaborative research in medical sciences can catapult India to a global leader in clinical outcomes. Our leadership in space, nuclear, digital and biotechnology has demonstrated our research capability and potential. Extending this capability to medicine is a natural next step.”
