Think out-of-box, medicos told by Health Minister Dr C Vijaya Baskar

Delivering the 20th convocation address at Sri Ramachandra University, the minister said that students should not just be torchbearers of their profession, but be pathfinders. He asked them to find new paths for patient care and push boundaries.

“You are young and your minds are not bound by limitations. So think differently, do research and break new paths in medicine,” he said. Pointing to the benefits of the CM’s comprehensive health insurance scheme (CMCHIS), the minister said that liver transplantation, bone marrow, stem cell transplantations and cochlear implants are now done free of cost under the scheme.

“The doubling of financial assistance under the Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy Scheme and the effective functioning of NICU (neonatal intensive care units) centres have played a pivotal role in bringing down maternal and infant mortality rates,” he said, adding the health budget has been increased by 67 per cent since 2011 and in the last two years, 610 MBBS seats have been added, taking the number of seats from 1945 to 2555.

Dr Vijaya Baskar distributed 69 gold medals to meritorious students and chancellor V.R. Venkataachalam conferred degrees and distributed certificates to over 295 post-graduates.