This story is from March 28, 2020

Assam: MBBS & nursing students to be pressed into service

In the next seven days, Assam will ready 1,000 final-year MBBS, BDS and ayurvedic students and 1,500 final-year students of nursing to join its existing frontline healthcare workforce in its fight against stopping Covid-19 outbreak in the state.
Assam: MBBS & nursing students to be pressed into service
"We will train them for a week and engage them in different medical colleges under the core teams led by medicine departments in hospitals," said health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
GUWAHATI: In the next seven days, Assam will ready 1,000 final-year MBBS, BDS and ayurvedic students and 1,500 final-year students of nursing to join its existing frontline healthcare workforce in its fight against stopping Covid-19 outbreak in the state.
"We will train them for a week and engage them in different medical colleges under the core teams led by medicine departments in hospitals," said health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

He, however, added that he was "respectfully in disagreement" with the idea to recall retired doctors and engage them in the battle against the disease.
"The retired doctors are in highest risk group because of their age. I cannot put them in direct contact with the virus by engaging them in treatment work. They will be at best having advisory or training roles," Sarma added.
He said doctors and nurses, who deal with Covid-19 patients, also face the risk of getting infected more than anyone else. "A doctor or nurse cannot work continuously. After every seven days of duty, each of them will be quarantined for 14 days. We are preparing a resource plan to fix groups of doctors and nurses who will be working for seven days and isolated for next 14 days. There will be one reserve group on standby," he added.

"We are also in the process of identifying and finalising accommodation for these doctors and nurses on quarantine after seven days of work," the minister said.
He further added, "We have also another battery of doctors who can be called in the event of an emergency situation relating to an outbreak. Therese are 600 doctors who have just passed MBBS and are currently on compulsory rural postings," he added.
Sarma said employees of the health department want to donate one day's salary like other state government employees for the fight against Covid-19. "But we have told them that they need not part with the salary as they have been already offering their selfless services from the front without thinking twice about the risk they face," he added.
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About the Author
Prabin Kalita

Prabin Kalita is a journalist at The Times of India and is currently the Chief of Bureau (northeast). He has been reporting in mainstream Indian national media since 2001. He has been a field journalist reporting gamut of issues from India’s northeastern region and major developments in neighbouring countries like Myanmar, China, Bhutan and Bangladesh concerning India and northeastern region. He has been covering insurgency—internal and cross-border, politics, natural calamities, environment etc. He is a post-graduate in Geological Sciences from Gauhati University.

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