Department Of Microbiology

• List of Faculties and Postgraduates
• Microbiology Diagnostic Laboratory with Molecular Diagnostic Facility
• Academic Activities
• Ongoing Research Activities
• Administrative Activities
• Biomedical Waste Management & Infection Control

PROFESSOR AND HOD:Dr RajeshSengodan MD.,

Associate Professors

Assistant Professors / Tutors

Postgraduates

• We have well-established microbiology diagnostic laboratory services since 1994.
• In the diagnostic laboratory, we process the following specimens for bacterial and fungal culture & sensitivity: blood, urine, stool, body fluids, tissue and sputum.
• Serological testing for various infectious diseases such as Dengue, Chikungunya, Leptospirosis, Typhoid, Scrub Typhus, Syphilis, Brucella, Malaria, HIV, Rheumatic Fever, Hepatitis B & C and autoimmune diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis.
• Hospital infection control services include OT sterility testing, air quality testing, water quality testing.

PCR Laboratory & VRDL

• Testing gene sequencing for Measles and Rubella virus by Conventional Gel PCR
• HIV, Hepatitis B & C viral load detection by PCR
• Influenza virus and drug resistance detection by PCR
• COVID-19 detection by PCR and CBNAAT
• Hepatitis B antibody titre level detection in Hepatitis B vaccinated individuals
• XPERT MTB/RIF for Tuberculosis and drug resistance detection by CBNAAT
• Advanced molecular diagnostic lab for detecting antibiotic resistance genes for multidrug resistance organisms by PCR
• HLA typing and crossmatching lab facility for organ transplantation and HLA B27 screening from October 27th, 2022
• NABH accreditation achieved for State Reference Laboratory

• We have a well-established and well-equipped microbiological lab for our undergraduate students of Medical, Allied Health Sciences and postgraduate (MD Microbiology) students.
• Actively moulding the students every year.

Student Intake per Year

• MBBS – 100 students
• DMLT – 100 students
• BSc MLT – 20 students
• BSc OT AT – 25 students
• BSc Nursing & Post Basic Nursing – 100 students
• MD Microbiology – 3, since 2018

• Every year, 9 postgraduate students are actively involved in the academic activities and research projects of the department.
• Conducting CME with special focus on medical undergraduate and allied health sciences students — World Tuberculosis Day, World Rabies Day, Hepatitis Day (in collaboration with the Medical Gastroenterology department), and International Infection Prevention Week.
• Conducted Quiz for allied health science students and postgraduates, and distributed prizes for winners on World Tuberculosis Day, March 24, 2022.
• On World Rabies Day, an awareness programme and role play by the allied health science students was conducted on September 28, 2022.
• On International Infection Prevention Week, a 3-day CME cum workshop, both offline and hybrid mode, was conducted on October 27th–29th 2022 for over 900 medical students and allied health students and 600 registered medical practitioners and staff nurses all over Tamil Nadu and South India.

Dr. Rajesh Sengodan, MD., Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, GMKMCH, is supervising and guiding 12 research projects for postgraduates. Research projects with specific focus on Tuberculosis, Neonatal Sepsis, and Meningitis are ongoing this year under his expert guidance.

Currently, Dr. Rajesh Sengodan, MD., Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, is the Nodal Officer for the Quality of Care Circle.

As Nodal Officer, he is guiding the faculties of other departments of our college to conduct audits such as case sheet audit, prescription audit, and biomedical audit in their respective departments, by formulating a questionnaire for the NABH Accreditation process.

Our future scope is to achieve NABH accreditation for our hospital.

On behalf of the Microbiology department, biomedical waste management audits are conducted periodically in the hospital premises, and a training programme for all health care workers is given on a regular basis.

We conduct Hospital Infection Control Committee meetings bimonthly and emphasize antibiotic stewardship to the clinicians of our hospital.

• As per Government orders, the Project Director, TNHSRP, Chennai, has directed to implement the Quality of Care Circle in 14 Government Medical Colleges in Tamil Nadu.
• We are very proud to say that our Govt. Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College is one among the 14 Medical Colleges.
• A Quality of Care Circle has been formed in our hospital from May 2022 by our respected Dean, Medical Superintendent, Deputy Medical Superintendent & RMO. The QoC Circle comprises a Core Committee & various sub-committees.
• To carry out the activities of the QoC Circle, we have appointed Dr. Rajesh Sengodan, MD as QoC Nodal Officer and Dr. Ezhilarasi, MD as Assistant Nodal Officer.
• Also, a Quality Manager has been appointed to carry out the implementation activities of the Quality of Care Circle.
• Every month, the QoC meeting will be conducted in the first week. Dean, Medical Superintendent, Deputy Medical Superintendent & RMO, all HODs, Nursing Superintendents, sub-committee members, and in-charges of departments will attend the meeting.
• Currently, 4 meetings have been conducted — on 6th July'22, 13th August'22, 9th September'22 & 12th October'22.
• Monthly audits like Biomedical Waste Management, Infection Control, Prescription Audits, Case Sheet Audits, and preparation of patient feedbacks have been carried out, and will be discussed in the QoC meeting.
• Gap analysis was done and presented to respective departments. Identified gaps were rectified and completed within the month.
• As an added achievement to our QoC Circle, we had a visit by the World Bank team on 27th of September'22. They visited our ER and TAEI ward, and discussed the activities carried out by our QoC Circle & appreciated our hospital that the services provided here are like that of a private hospital.
• As a part of the Quality Initiative, a successful 3-day CME programme on Hospital Infection Control Practices was conducted in our hospital by our Nodal Officer, Dr. Rajesh Sengodan, MD (Prof & HOD of Microbiology).
• Topics on infection control practices in various clinical areas, hand hygiene, BMW management, bundle care checklists, cleaning of clinical instruments & equipment, etc. were covered in the CME by both internal & external speakers. Practical demo sessions were also conducted on one day.
• The CME was conducted both online & offline. Around 900 students (MBBS, School of Nursing, College of Nursing, BSc MLT, BSc OT AT) & around 600 staff (Doctors, Nurses, Paramedical staff) attended the CME.
• So, a total of around 1,500 participants benefitted through this CME.

The Hospital Infection Control and Biomedical Waste Management Committee primarily functions with the aim of infection prevention and control, and proper biomedical waste segregation and management in the hospital premises.

The QoC Circle has been framed with the prime aim of achieving NABH for our GMKMCH, Salem.

Activities

The Hospital Infection Control and Biomedical Waste Management Committee audits all the wards in our hospital bimonthly and ensures achieving quality standards.

In addition, the Hospital Infection Control and Biomedical Waste Management meeting is conducted monthly to frame and update the antibiotic policy for our hospital, GMKMCH, Salem, as a step towards achieving antibiotic stewardship.

Biomedical Waste Management training programmes have been conducted for all cadres of health care workers periodically to ensure and reinforce proper biomedical waste segregation practices.

Biomedical Waste Management Training Programme for BSc Nursing Students

Recently, the World Bank team, as a part of the NABH upgradation of our hospital, visited and appreciated our hospital's cleanliness and facilities as on par with a corporate setup.

We regularly conduct CME programmes about various infections and create awareness on measures to prevent and control them.

CME Programme on World Rabies Day

CME on World TB Day

Recently, we conducted a CME on “Infection Prevention – The Future Is in Our Hands” on 27th, 28th and 29th October 2022, with live demonstration of cleaning and disinfection protocols for various wards and OTs in the hospital to prevent and control infections.

Our whole Microbiology faculty and postgraduates completed the IA & QMS training as per ISO 15189 & NABL 112, held at Vinayaka Missions' Medical College, Salem, on 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th July 2022.

Online 24-hour culture reporting has been initiated to facilitate fast dispatch of culture reports, in order to aid clinicians in treating patients effectively.

We ensure the availability of blood culture medium 24×7 in our laboratory to aid clinicians in getting timely blood culture reports.