By NewsGram Staff Writer

Other than engineers, IIT Kharagpur would soon start producing doctors as well. The super-speciality hospital, Dr. B.C. Roy Institute of Medical Science & Research is expected to be ready by the end of 2017, on a three-acre plot on the edge of the campus.

"The government has already sanctioned a grant of Rs 230 crore last year for this purpose. Construction work will start soon and is expected to be completed within 26 months," IIT-Kharagpur director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti said.

IIT Kharagpur, will become the first institute among the IITs to offer medical education.

Reportedly the authorities have already taken approval from the Medical Council of India (MCI) for providing undergraduate medical education courses like MBBS.

"It will bring the two diverse disciplines of engineering and medicine together in education and research. Technology will be used to access and treat large number of patients through satellite centres and secondary hospitals," the director said.

As reported by PTI, the hospital is planning to use technologies like remote diagnostics, telemedicine, teleradiology, and expert systems leveraging outreach of cellular network. Paramedics, nursing training facility, biomedical innovation unit and a medical outreach unit have also been proposed.

The authorities have also collaborated with Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA and Imperial College, London on medical science.