The Dean's address to the Staff and Alumni at the 24th December 2006 Staff-Alumni Luncheon

Dear Fellow GSites,

It is a great pleasure and privilege to welcome you all to the GOUSUMEET-2006 program organized by staff, students and alumni of our institutions. I am particularly grateful to Dr.M.A.Phadke, Vice Chancellor, MUHS and Dr.R.Roy Choudhari WHO Consultant for having graced this occasion. Even as we celebrate the completion of 80 years of our glorious existence, our institutions are ranked 5th in the country To commemorate the 80th year , we have had an academic and cultural feast organized over these past two months. Various departments - starting with the stress management workshop by the Physiotherapy department - have organized 18 unique and outstanding programs dealing with varied topics. These topics have ranged from unique, hands-on workshops on the Anatomy of the female pelvis and flap dissection by Departments of Anatomy, Gynecology & Obstetrics and Plastic surgery; Insight into chronic infections by the Department of Chest Medicine; Neonatal resuscitation by the Department of Neonatology; Infectious diseases by the Department of Medicine; Laboratory accreditation by the Department of Biochemistry ; Drug development by Clinical Pharmacology, Cognitive Impairment 100 years since Alois Alzheimer and Narcoanalysis by Psychiatry, Total knee replacement -20 years experience by Orthopaedics; Workshop on Advances in Parkinsonism by Neurology and a programme arranged by Preventive Social Medicine (PSM) on Support services and hospital administration. There were also had guest lectures by experts like Prof James from USA, Dr. Gennery from UK, our alumni from UK, USA, & Hong Kong.

Our illustrious alumni Dr. Vidya Acharya , Dr.Mahashur, Dr. Goleria, Dr. Motashaw, Dr. Usha Krishna delivered outstanding lectures. We also have had the good fortune of felicitating stalwarts like Dr. G.B. Parulkar and R.D Bapat.

The program on the 22nd and 23rd has been an important multidisciplinary event dealing with unique topics like Perspectives of GSMC & KEMH, students, International experts and Management gurus on Medical education & Surgical advances. Undergraduate, Post-graduate students and staff members presented posters on the work done by them. These were judged by our alumni Dr. Sunita Ginde, Dr.Lopa Mehta and Dr.Bawdekar. There were 34 entries and outstanding posters were awarded Best Poster Award. Incidentally I am happy to inform that one of our students has been selected to present his work in the Netherlands.

A debate between staff and students on the 23rd December 2006 on "Are we making good doctors?" was very successful and concluded with happy note that whether we make good doctors or not we certainly make good debaters!!

During this GOSUMEET, old memories have been revived and new friends formed. There has been a cross fertilization of ideas that help modify, enrich and develop the master plan for the future. The GOSUMEET was successfully organized by our alumni and the Office bearers of the Alumni Association Dr.Gogte, Dr.Ram Prabhu, Dr.L.M.Shah, Dr.Dinesh Salgaonkar, Dr.Hrishikesh Pai, Dr.Sunil Puntambekar and Dr.Sandhya Kamat, Dr.Neema Rege and Dr.Lopa Mehta.

Our Alma Mater is, in fact, like a highly complex biological organism. It learns, it discovers, it evolves, it creates. The habitat of this organism - the campus - provides a functional, livable and inspirational environment. The beautiful heritage buildings are undergoing renovation and modernization at an estimated cost of approximately US $10 million . The renovation and modernization of the OPD is going on and will provide amenities and facilities to patients. The renovation of the college building will modernize the college office in a few months' time so as to have a new smart and functional look. The Pathology Museum, will also be renovated and it is expected to be opened to school children for displays on health and hygiene. The hospital building will also be renovated in two phases. The heritage building will have the old-time charm with modern facilities to match current requirements and advances. However, this probably will not be enough for the growing health care needs of the city.

At present, the growth rate of casualty attendance is 10% per year and that of indoor admissions by 5%, so that by the Centenary year 2026, it is excepted that our casualty attendance will increase from 1.5 lacs / year to 12 lacks/year i.e. 500 per day to 5000 per day and admissions from 85,000/year to 2.5 lakhs/year, i.e. from 200 per day to 500 per day. To meet with these needs our campus expansion plan is underway. We are fortunate to have Mr.Johny Joseph as our Municipal Commissioner and Mr. Sri Kant Singh, ( & now Mr. Suresh Gajbhiye) Additional Municipal Commissioners - great visionaries and phenomenal administrators - at the helm of the Municipal Corporation. It is their efforts to provide the best possible environment and facilities to poorest class that has resulted in renovation and restoration of OPD ambience and of the hospital.

During this GOSUMEET-2006 we were fortunate to have distinguished guests like to Dr. Srivastava, Director General of Health Services, Govt of India and Dr. Altaf Lal, Science attaché, US Embassy at the inaugural function. They addressed the gathering of staff, students and alumni and congratulated the twin institutions for their contribution to health care of rural India and to global health through their outstanding alumni spread all over the world. We hope that we will continue to contribute to country's health care needs as His Excellency President of India Shri APJ Abdul Kalam has said "Dream is not what we see when we sleep; dream is that which does not let you sleep and make you work hard to accomplish it. The motto of this institution "Not for self but for all" and dreams of the ever enthusiastic staff members of these institutions, is what makes this institution an outstanding educational and health care center.