Surgical Gastro dept. at Thiruvananthapuram MCH celebrates golden jubilee
The Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Thiruvananthapuram, the very first department to be established in a medical college to deal exclusively with complex gastrointestinal (GI) conditions needing surgical treatment in the country, has turned 50 years.
A two-day event, including a continuing medical education programme and an alumni get together was organised here over the weekend to celebrate the golden jubilee of the department.
Established in 1975 under the leadership of N. Rajan, the Surgical Gastroenterology department here has trained many of the renowned and leading GI surgeons of the day, some of whom are currently heading major training centres in India and abroad.
Working closely with the Department of Medical Gastroenterology, established in 1973, the Surgical Gastroenterology department worked its way up and soon, patients were being offered surgical treatment for Chronic pancreatitis and Portal hypertension, besides surgeries for GI cancers.
The 22nd national conference of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology in 1981 was jointly hosted by the Medical and Surgical Gastroenterology departments, which was also an occasion to showcase the excellent academic and clinical work done in the field in this part of the country.
The work done by the department grew in leaps and bounds as more faculty joined the department in the 80s. The Surgical Gastroenterology superspeciality (MCh) course was started in 1996 and it was at the time one of the few training centres in the country to offer the MCh programme.
With the starting of the MCh course, patient care and training activities further improved, establishing the Department as a referral point for major GI surgical problems. The opening of the super specialty block in 2011, as part of the PMSSY project was another major milestone in improving patient care.
The opening of the multi specialty block and the expansion of the critical care unit with state-of-the-art facilities in 2018-19, further expanded the field for Surgical Gastroenterology, which began managing several patients with critical GI issues. Major open and laparoscopic surgeries for GI cancers, pre-cancerous conditions and chronic diseases are carried out on a daily basis at the department now.
It has also begun to carry out liver transplants in a public-private partnership mode, with the support of the transplant team from KIMSHEALTH and other sister specialities.
The department has also brought out 25 publications in indexed journals and is currently conducting a randomised controlled trial in pancreatic surgery, apart from basic research in genetics and colon cancer.
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