Institute of Clinical Research India (ICRI), a leading institute in clinical research studies, has announced the launch of its healthcare division - ICRI Health-to focus on imparting education in healthcare services, covering both medical tourism and hospital operations management.

ICRI Health will launch the two-year MBA course in healthcare management from September at its six existing campuses in the country, ICRI chairman S R Dugal said. He also announced the appointment of Major General (Dr) M Srivastava, VSM (Rtd) as the head for the new division.

The course will have option for specialisation in hospital operation management or medical tourism in the second year. It has tied up with Academy of Hospital Administration for jointly conducting hospital operations management and healthcare industry related courses. For medical tourism, it has an agreement with Singapore Health which will provide course modules and faculty.

ICRI top officials said that the country was lacking enough manpower both in the areas of medical tourism and hospital operations as India was fast becoming a hot destination for medical tourists and corporate culture was turning out to be a must norm for the hospitals to handle them.

The course would be held at is campuses in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kochi and Bangalore. In all, about 250 students would be admitted for the programme, Dugal said.