A Learning Institution

Monday, October 29, 2007

When it opened in 1985, Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai, India (then known as Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute) had about a hundred students and operated a free hospital. Its founding chancellor, the late Shri N.P.V. Ramasamy Udayar, established an ambitious agenda for the school that led in 1997 to a partnership with HMI. In July faculty from HMI joined colleagues from the Indian health care community to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the alliance.

HMI and Sri Ramachandra marked the anniversary with a day-long conference entitled “Bridging the Health Care Education Gap.” The conference featured presentations and panel discussions led by Robert K. Crone, MD, HMI Chief Executive Officer; Vice President Harvey Makadon, MD; and Vice President Tom Aretz, MD. A recurring theme of the day was the need to capitalize on recent lessons and improvements in the Indian health care community to increase access to quality care for the country’s underserved population.

The early years of the HMI-Sri Ramachandra partnership focused on creating academic exchanges that brought students and faculty to Harvard Medical School. Silpa Gadiraju, a third-year medical student, was the first to complete a research clerkship at HMS, devoting a year to study in cardiovascular biology. V. Srinivasan, head of Sri Ramachandra’s Department of Surgery, was the first faculty member to benefit from the alliance, undertaking advanced training at HMS.

"Our alliance with HMI has matured into a relationship which has grown and flourished. The relationship has helped us become better teachers, better physicians, and as a whole a better organization that is responsive to the needs of our students, patients, and community."
-- VR Venkataachalam, Chancellor

The alliance evolved to include a host of curriculum reforms, including the rollout of a new competency-based curriculum. The partners have also developed a pair of annual faculty and leadership development programs—led by HMI’s Tom Aretz, MD, Vice President of Global Programs, and Elizabeth Armstrong, PhD, Director of Education Programs—that have attracted participants from throughout the region. The faculty programs have tackled important aspects of curriculum development, such as approaches to clinical skills acquisition, assessment, and the development of competency areas and benchmarks for medical graduates. The leadership programs have focused on issues of present concern in the Indian health care community, such as medical professionalism.

“Making changes is not easy for any academic institution, but the leadership and faculty at Sri Ramachandra approached the process with great enthusiasm, paired with a measured and practical approach to assure lasting changes and support by the entire community,” said HMI Vice President H. Tom Aretz, MD.

In recent years the collaboration between HMI and Sri Ramachandra has focused on helping the institution develop into a model health care organization. An HMI team led by HMI Vice President Harvey Makadon, MD has been working closely with physicians, nurses, and administrators in the Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre, a 1,050-bed teaching hospital, to enhance health care quality and patient safety. The hospital is taking the first steps towards seeking accreditation from Joint Commission International.

HMI has also developed numerous education programs for community physicians (including two Practi-Med CME programs), helped guide the development of an ambulatory care clinic, and played a key role in developing HIV education programs in Chennai.

Said Makadon, “Sri Ramachandra is the model of a learning institution in both its medical school and hospitals. They have pursued faculty development with great rigor, and in the hospital are striving to be a quality leader in India. The institution stands out because of its commitment to taking care of all.”