M. P. Shah Medical College

Jamnagar in Gujarat, India

M. P. Shah Medical College, Jamnagar(also Shri M. P. Shah Medical College) is a medical school located in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. It is associated with the Irwin Group of Hospitals, the second largest hospital complex in the state of Gujarat. The college is notable for having a functional solarium.

History

Irwin Hospital (the academic medical center associated with M.P. Shah Medical College) was inaugurated by Lord Irwin in 1927. In 1933, during the rule of Jam Digvijaysinhji, Irwin Hospital was expanded, with the addition of several specialty departments. Shri Abdul Karim Jamal started a dispensary opposite Irwin Hospital (A. K. Jamal Dispensary) and the Sarmatwala dispensary was started during this period. All these dispensaries including the city dispensary were merged with Irwin Hospital – and hence the name Irwin Group of Hospitals. In 1954, M. P. Shah Medical College came into existence and Irwin hospital was affiliated with it. In 2000, on the eve of the 300th Birthday Anniversary of Lord Guru Gobind Singh - as one of his five disciples (Punj Pyare) – Mokam Singh who got established at Bat Dwarka – Gujarat government renamed the Irwin group of hospitals as Guru Gobind Singh Hospital.

Dr. Dadabhai and Dr. Kalyaniwala Khandbahadur were the first heads of Irwin Group of Hospitals. Dr. Ruks Thomas (FRCS) was appointed as the first Surgeon General in 1927. Dr. Pranjivan Manekchand Mehta was his successor. At the establishment of M.P. Shah Medical College in 1954, Dr. P. C. Rakshit took over from Dr. P. M. Mehta as the first Dean and Medical Superintendent.

Facilities

Starting with 200 beds in 1927, the hospital has seen several major expansions. Today, it is one the leading tertiary care and referral medical centers for the region of Saurashtra with a bed strength of 1275 (2005). The hospital has 50 indoor wards and 10 operation theaters.

Solarium

The solarium was sponsored by the late Lt. Col. His Highness Maharaja Jam Saheb Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji of Nawanagar State in 1934. It was designed by Dr. Jean Saidam, a French engineer.

The height of the solarium is 40 feet. The platform on which the solarium cabins are built is mounted on a tower 30 feet above ground level. The platform is 114 feet long, with 10 cabins for solar ray therapy. The cabin size is 13 by 9 feet. The platform revolves in a horizontal plane and the patients beds in the cabin can simultaneously rotate vertically. The solarium is adjusted every 10 to 15 minutes as per the movement of Sun in the sky and for this purpose there is an observatory room to control the movement. Rotation of the solarium is done by motor. If the power supply fails, there is a pivoting system in the basement of the solarium by which a person can rotate it manually. To complete one full circle takes 60 minutes.

Three types of ray therapy - ultraviolet, infrared and total radiation - are given in the treatment cabin by means of the concentrator glasses, which can concentrate two and a half time the sun rays. Filter glasses are placed below in order to cut off the unwanted rays, so the patient receives only the desired rays for the treatment purpose. Due to the unavailability of the concentrator glasses and filter glasses in India and abroad, and as the above original glasses were broken during last cyclone, the natural ray therapy is not possible at present. Moreover, ray therapies are now available by electrical gadgets. Therefore, the solarium has now only historical importance. It attracts large number of visitors from the country and abroad.

Affiliations

It is affiliated with Saurashtra University and offers the following courses:

See also

References

    External links

    Coordinates: 22°28′40″N 70°03′56″E / 22.4779°N 70.0656°E / 22.4779; 70.0656

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 4/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.