Sanjay Gandhi Post-graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS)

Lucknow UP India

History

The foundation stone of the Institute was laid by the then President of India Late Mr Neelam Sanjiva Reddy on 14th December 1980, a day which is now celebrated as the Institute’s Foundation Day. The Institute was established by an Act of the Uttar Pradesh State Legislature in 1983 with an initial grant of Rs 4 billion. Construction began in 1985, faculty started joining in 1986, skeletal clinical services started in 1987, main hospital started functioning in 1988 and academic courses began in 1989. In the initial years, a generous equipment grant-in-aid of 3.3 billion Japanese Yen (Rs 320 million) from the Japanese Government under its JICA programme gave a kick-start to the Institute. In the later years, the Institute has received another grant-in-aid of 30 million French Franc (Rs 200 million) from the French Government. Recently the Government of India has agreed to upgrade the Institute with a grant of Rs 1.2 billion. The current annual budget of the Institute is to the tune of Rs 1,000 million (plan Rs 300 million and non-plan Rs 700 million) – it generates Rs 250 million from the hospital charges and the rest is provided by the UP State Government.

The concept

 
The Institute was planned as a super-specialty teaching institution having the status of a university with a tertiary level referral hospital to create a centre of excellence for medical care, education and research. In view of this, a conscious decision was taken not to have all specialties but to develop only 5 super-specialties viz. Cardiac, Endocrine, Gastro, Renal and Neuro sciences (with medical and surgical components) and Genetics and Immunology. In addition, laboratory sciences (Pathology, Microbiology and Transfusion Medicine), radiation sciences (Nuclear Medicine, Radiodiagnosis and Radiotherapy) and supportive departments (Anesthesiology and Biostatistics) were also established in the 1st of the 3 planned phases. Recently, 3 new super-specialties of Critical Care Medicine (2002), Hematology (2003) and Pediatric Gastroenterology (2006) have been started thus bringing the total to 23 departments. Five new departments – Pulmonary Medicine, Paediatric Surgical Superspecialties, Maternal health, Plastic Surgery and Molecular Medicine are being added.    

The campus

The sprawling 550-acre campus, with a 8-Km long boundary and situated on the Lucknow – Raibareli Highway at a distance of 12 Km from the city centre, is a virtual mini-city with all faculty members and residents and most of the nurses living on the residential campus. It has its own schools, shopping area, sports club and a 600-seat auditorium. The lush-green campus has its own flora and fauna and is a treat for morning walkers.

Firsts in SGPGIMS

Departments of Genetics, Immunology, Endocrine Surgery, Transfusion Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and Pediatric Gastroenterology at SGPGIMS are the firsts of their kind in the public sector in the country. Several departments at SGPGIMS are the largest (9 faculty, 60-bed) in the country.

Patient care

The 696-bed hospital (including 56 ICU beds) functions as a tertiary level referral hospital for the state of UP (population 140 million) and several adjoining states admitting 25,000 patients ever year. The centrally air-conditioned hospital runs 67 outpatients clinics every week (45,000 new patients and 120,000 follow up visits) and has 14 state-of-the-are operation theatres (6,000 operations) which function from 9 AM to 5 PM five days a week. The hospital provides health care services, which were hitherto not available in the state of UP, at highly subsidised charges to cover the costs of consumables. Every year more than 100 renal transplants, 1,000 coronary angioplasties, 9,000 haemodialysis and 7,500 GI endoscopies are performed. The Institute was the first in the public sector to have a computerized hospital information system. It has a Telemedicine facility which is linked to several institutions and hospitals in various parts of the country. 

Teaching and training

The staff includes 150 full-time non-practising faculty members and 300 senior residents/ students who are selected by a national level entrance examination. The Institute has so far awarded the post-doctoral degrees of DM to 183 students and MCh to 116 students. The 10th Convocation of the Institute in 2005 (held every year on 14th January) was graced by the President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. The Institute has the practice of inviting eminent scientists form within the country and abroad as Visiting Professors.
            Several departments at SGPGIMS have the largest super-specialty training programs (4 students per year) in the country. The Institute the first in the country to start DM/ MCh/ MD courses in Genetics, Immunology, Endocrine Surgery and Transfusion Medicine. SGPGIMS also proposed 3-year DM/ MCh courses – a concept which was later adopted by AIIMS and PGIMER and even Medical Council of India (MCI). Our trainees are occupying faculty positions in prestigious institutions and are consultants in corporate hospitals of the country and even abroad. The Institute also attracts a large number of observers (1-3 months) and short-term trainees (3 months – 2 years) from all over the country and even abroad.

Research 

The Institute has its own Research and Ethics Committees which function according to the guidelines laid down by the Indian Council of Medical research (ICMR). Several departments have identified locally prevalent problems such as hepatitis, encephalitis, polio, endemic iodine deficiency goiter, fluorosis, gall bladder cancer, etc as their areas of research interest. The faculty has received huge amounts of extramural research grants from various national and international funding agencies. Several departments have been participating in numerous international multi-centre drug trials. The Institute has so far awarded PhD to 52 students. Faculty and students of SGPGIMS have published a large number of research papers in reputed Indian and foreign medical and scientific journals – SGPGIMS has been identified as having a ‘low output yet high impact’ publication record cf. ‘high output and high impact’ status of AIIMS and PGIMER - because of their much larger size. 

Honours           

Several faculty members have received numerous prestigious national and international honours including Padma Shri, BC Roy Award of the Medical Council of India (MCI), Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), National Bioscience Award of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Commonwealth and WHO Fellowships, etc.  

Conclusion 

In a short span of 20 years, SGPGIMS has occupied a place at par with much older institutions such as AIIMS and PGIMER. It has established national stature and has made international presence. After successfully completing its 1st phase it now plans to embark on its planed 2nd and 3rd phases of 600 beds each. Its future plans include becoming a centre for medical tourism, an international hub for teaching and training, and establishing bilateral links with institutions abroad.