Kolkata: The Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, will start a distance education programme here offering
post-graduate diploma in family medicine for general practitioners (GPs) of West Bengal and other eastern states from June.

'Our research showed 250,000 GPs in India neither have a post-graduate diploma nor are they aware of modern methodologies in the medical field. As a result excessive referral cases are making treatment expensive for even common diseases.

To bridge this gap we have started this two-year distance education programme with a motto - 'refer less, revolve more',' CMC associate director Atanu Jana told IANS on the sidelines of a press meet here on Saturday on the launch of the course.

The course has already started in Delhi, Bangalore, Oddanchatram and Vellore in 2007.

'Kolkata is our fifth centre that will represent the entire eastern India. Twenty-five participants randomly selected are from Kolkata, Nadia, Assansol, Jharkhand, Mizoram and Nagaland,' said Jana.

CMC will start five more centres in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Tejpur this year.

The course has been divided into 75 modules focussing on 80 diseases.

'Most of the diseases are common ones like shoulder pain, blood vomiting and pregnancy-related problems. Even for these diseases doctors refer patients to Vellore. Our team of 10-12 resource persons will supervise the course from time to time,' Jana added. IANS