AP to Rope In House Surgeons For COVID Duty

With a sudden spike in corona cases, Andhra Pradesh state health sector is overburdened with Covid-related work since March last year, when the first wave of pandemic started. As per reports, authorities are planning to get an additional workforce of nearly 4,500 house surgeons for Covid duty by the first week of May.

The medical education authorities have requested NTR University of Health Sciences to expedite the evaluation of the answer scripts and announce the results of MBBS final-year exams by the last week of April. There are 30 government and private medical colleges in the state with an intake of 4,660 students.

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Every health personnel is loaded with work--starting from Covid-19 testing and providing treatment to infected persons to conducting vaccination drive. With an upward trend in the caseload, doctors are paying more attention to treatment.

The AP government has permitted the health authorities to recruit young doctors temporarily for a period of three months to avail their services in Covid wards. This would enable them to treat the virus-infected patients at Covid Care Centres and also at Covid hospitals in the state.

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AP Medical Education Director, Dr Raghavendra Rao said that they have requested the NTR University to declare the results of MBBS final year students early so that nearly 4,500 qualified doctors can work as house surgeons and attend Covid duty.

“As young doctors are also going to be recruited for three months to attend to Covid work, we expect the additional workforce to help us handle the Covid pandemic effectively," he added.