The word reality check is one of the most used words in the healthcare sector. But what exactly is a reality check? Probably when you get a taste of what happens in real life and life you imagined.
The most heartbreaking reality check a person encounters in their life is often related to health. A similar reality check was given to the entire world when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11th March 2020. In April 2021, when the 2nd wave was at its peak, some patients in Bihar’s Gopalganj district hospital needed to be put on ventilators. The life-saving devices could not be used due to a manpower crisis. The unfortunate incident highlighted the acute shortage of medical staff—doctors, nurses, paramedics, and technicians. For the record, the country has 37.6 health workers for every 10,000 people. The WHO benchmark is a minimum of 44.5.
Moreover, it is predicted that 18 MILLION will be the number of health care workers in the world will be short by 2030. Several key factors contribute to the shortages, including a growing ageing population, an ageing health workforce, rapid increases in chronic diseases, and the limited capacity of health education programs. The prevailing health emergencies demand radical steps and urgent hiring of medical staff in the entire world. The Indian government has already made several key initiatives, including improving medical student enrollment, establishing new institutions, and supporting the growth of existing medical institutions to encourage the healthcare industry. But when it comes to serving 1.39 billion people, only government initiative is not enough. To plan for the overall strengthening of the Indian healthcare system, the government, as well as the private players, need to kick-start their journey and ensure that necessary steps are taken at the right time.
To cater for the need of society and to provide an extra pair of hands to the extremely occupied health care professionals, Mr Prashant Sharma, the MD of Charnock Hospital, founded the Charnock Healthcare Institute.
In an interestingly interactive conversation with The Knowledge Review magazine Mrs Vinita Misra, the CEO of Charnock Healthcare Institute, highlighted the incredible story of the institute and how the institute is creating a place that caters to the growing needs of the modernist traditional healthcare industry.
Putting on the White Coat of Charnock Hospital
The inception story of Charnock Healthcare Institute started with the inception of Charnock Hospital. While being a multi-speciality hospital capable of serving 300 patients at a time, the hospital felt the need to have an institute of its own to produce nursing and paramedic professionals.
Highlighting the college’s inception story, Mrs Vinita says, “We started in the year 2011 with just one course, GNM, with only 30 students. In 2014 we started B. Sc nursing, and in 2015 we came up with B. Sc in Paramedics. Today we have 100 seats in GNM, 100 in B.Sc Nursing, 60 in B.Sc paramedics, and more than 650 students in our college. Last year we received INC approval for M.Sc nursing, and the training will start from the academic year 2022-2023.”
Set on the BedRock of Honest Values
While the entire healthcare education facilities concentrate on the traditional education system, Charnock Healthcare Institute also focuses on building strong character among their students, equipping them with the right tools to face any challenge life throws.
Emphasizing that ability to build a strong character and describe the institute’s vision and mission, Mrs Vinita says, “For us, every child is our responsibility, and their growth is our real success. Our vision is to develop this institute into a world-class institution known for its infrastructure, excellence in academics, and professional acumen. Our mission is to disseminate high-quality education in all health sciences streams amongst the youth and inculcate values and ethics to be practised in the pursuit of their professions.”
A Futuristic Leadership Hierarchy
Charnock hospital and Charnock Healthcare Institute is the brainchild of Mr Prashant Sharma, the MD of the institute and hospital. Being a futuristic and visionary person, he had predicted the growing crisis of the medical staff worldwide.
Starting the initiative in 2011, CHI took the form of an institution empowering women. This is why 90% of the base, from students to teachers and non-teaching staff, are women. Looking for an incredible leader for such an astonishing and change-driving institute, Mr Prashant Sharma, Introduced Charnock Institute to Ms Vinita Misra, the current CEO of the organization, which took over the responsibility in 2017.
Talking about her incredible leadership skills, Mr Prashant Sharma says, “When she joined the college, was having 60 GNM seats. 60 B.Sc Nursing seats and 50 B.Sc paramedics seats which have gone up to 100 seats in GNM and B.Sc nursing and 60 in paramedics, and we have started M.Sc nursing too. After her joining, the organization has received two prestigious awards for its excellent service.”
Equipping Students with Value and Skill-based education
Paramedical and nursing being the core elements of medical space, the basic requirement for entering this space required to have a science background in education. While GMN was open for all until 2020but, from 2021, only 30% of the total seats were to be given to students from arts and commerce backgrounds.
The students have to clear the entrance exam organized by the Health University. Regarding how the institute helps equip students with values and skills, Ms Vinita says, “The entire admission process is very systematic and organized. Now coming to human values, the child has to be mentally strong but compassionate. He or she should have a zeal to help people in need. We organize different motivational lectures, yoga classes, free blood donation camps, medical camps, and many other activities so that our students maintain good mental health and learn their responsibilities towards society.”
Creating Global Paramedics
The Charnock healthcare Institute has introduced many programs to help its students have a complete outlook on the global medical space. Explaining how the institute caters to imbibe the global outlook, Ms Vinita asserts, “We want our students to be a global citizens and want them to work in different parts of the world. We are having a discussion with Middle East countries and NHS (UK) for their placement. We are organizing OET training (occupational English Test) for our teachers so that they can guide our students to learn global English required for medical professionals.”
Catering to the Holistic Development
When asked about the holistic development of Charnock’s students, Ms Vinita beautifully explained the entire process saying, “As nursing and paramedic training is quite a tough training and students can feel mental pressure on them, we keep different other activities for them to improve their mental health. We organize yoga classes, karate classes, an annual picnic, educational excursions, and debates. Our students participate in a different cultural competition organized by all the colleges and win many prizes. We keep organizing cultural activities around the year to keep the environment healthy and playful. We give personal attention to every child. In case of any psychological problem, we help them with proper counselling. We just don’t focus on making only good healthcare professionals, but we concentrate on making them good human beings with high values.”
With such holistic development programs in place and other pedagogical ventures, Charnock Healthcare Institute has also won the two most prestigious awards in the healthcare sector.
- Worldwide Achievers Award, 2019 for the Best Nursing College in West Bengal
- Iconic Education Award, 2021 as the Most Innovative Healthcare Institute of the Year
Roadmap for Futuristic Medical Education
Envisioning the future and what is to be expected from the Charnock Healthcare Institute, Ms Vinita highlights, “We want to become a one-stop solution for medical education. We are in the process of opening B. Sc in Medical Lab Technology (BMLT), B. Sc in Physician Assistantship, and B.Sc. in Physiotherapy (BPT) and expect to start these courses in the academic year 2022-2023. In the next 5 years, we are planning to come up with MMBS, BSCH (B. Sc. in Community Health). In the future, we see ourselves as a university concentration on all medical sciences and research.”
