Medvarsity in collaboration with University of New South Wales (UNSW) Australia are soon planning to launch Infectious Disease Management course in India.

Medvarsity which is a part of Apollo Hospitals group has coined India’s first Medical e-learning initiative in collaboration with UNSW particularly in the healthcare ‘e’ learning space.

Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, informed that the collaboration involves a joint go-to-market with an initial focus on specialized course on Infectious disease management.

Medvarsity is known for its initiative in the e-learning space, particularly in the healthcare segment and is very soon embarking to launch its first course on infectious diseases control by next month. The course is aimed at Doctors, Nurses and allied health professionals. The course is an outcome of a collaborative endeavor between eminent practicing infectious disease specialists from Apollo Hospitals like Dr. Dilip Mathai and senior academicians from UNSW’s School of Public Health and Community Medicine (SPHCM), including head of the school, Professor Raina MacIntyre.

“India faces several challenges in the management of emerging and endemic infectious diseases, and there is a great need to enhance the number of trained clinicians in this space. As Apollo's Medvarsity has a robust learning management system along with a strong footprint in the Indian healthcare space, it can play major role in overcoming these challenges. ,” says Professor MacIntyre.

The one year diploma course on Infectious disease Management (LDM) has a syllabus encompassing topics like surveillance of infectious diseases, pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, vaccines and current challenges in infectious diseases control.

UNSW’s School of Public Health and Community Medicine is internationally acclaimed for its capability in the area of infectious diseases management. UNSW will provide content and Medvarsity will serve as the platform for imparting education.

“UNSW and Apollo Knowledge team have worked together to develop an exceptional curriculum. It is an achievement of which both parties can be extremely proud,” said Professor Peter Smith, UNSW’s Dean of Medicine.

According to Dr Hariprasad currently the infection medicine is part of a post MD programme and only 4 infection medicine professionals qualify every year for a country of this magnitude, with multitude infectious disease issues. Though MCI has recently approved a DM in infection Medicine, no college has started the course yet. There is no structured curriculum for Infection Medicine in the country. There is huge need for infectious disease specialists in the country and this course will address to bridge the gap.