Department of Paediatric

Introduction to Paediatrics

History of the Department

In 1952, the Paediatrics department started functioning in Salem District Head Quarters Hospital. In 1990, this hospital was converted to Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College. In 1994, the first batch of MBBS students appeared for the undergraduate Paediatrics clinical examination and graduated from this institution. The Postgraduate MD course commenced in 2007, and the first batch of MD postgraduates appeared for exams in 2009. Since then, yearly examinations have been conducted under The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University. So far, 16 batches of PG students have graduated from this department with a 100% pass rate every year. The department admits 8 MD PG students per year.

Brief Profile of the Department

The Department of Paediatrics currently functions in the RCH building.

• Ground floor: OP rooms, immunization clinics, speciality clinics, PREM unit, classrooms, patients' waiting hall, demonstration room
• Second floor: NICU, milk bank, well-baby clinic
• Third floor: PICU, HDU, paediatric ward, isolation ward, library, seminar hall

RCH Building

Faculty Details (as on 10/11/2022)

• Number of units in the department: 3
• OP days and timings: All days, 7:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon
• Well-baby clinic and immunization clinic: All days

Special Clinics Conducted

OP Statistics

IP Unit & Admission Days

• Unit I — Monday & Thursday
• Unit II — Tuesday & Friday
• Unit III — Wednesday & Saturday
• Sundays on rotation

Bed Strength

• General paediatric ward — 120
• PICU — 10
• Neonatal ward — 60

Average IP admission, paediatric ward: 20/day  |  Average IP admission, newborn ward: 25/day

Paediatric Ward — Total Patients Treated

PICU — Total Ventilated Patients Treated

HDU — Total Cases Treated

NICU — Total Ventilated Patients Treated

NICU — Total Cases Treated

Screening Services

• OAE screening: done in a separate room in NICU on all days — average 20/day; 3,790 babies screened in 2021
• ROP screening: done every Saturday in NICU — average 40/week; 1,263 babies screened in 2021

CMCHIS Statistics

A Human Milk Bank was started in the year 2015. It saves more than 4,000 low-birth-weight preterm babies per year.

Special Camps Conducted in DEIC, 2022

• SAM camp — June 2022 to August 2022
• Cleft lip / palate management camp — November 2022
• Growth hormone therapy camp for short-stature children
• Cardiology camp

Diseases Identified & Treated (Apr 2021 – Feb 2022)

UG Teaching Schedule

• Clinical classes are taken on all days in OPD and in wards within their respective units
• Clinical classes in the newborn ward are taken twice weekly
• An internal assessment examination is conducted once a month
• Pre-final MBBS students have one theory class in Paediatrics per week
• Final MBBS students have two theory classes per week
• A symposium for UGs is conducted once a month on the 4th Saturday

Teaching Programme for PGs

Apart from routine OPD and ward work, the department conducts a journal club, a clinical society meeting, a symposium and dissertation review meetings on a monthly basis. Professors and Associate Professors take clinical classes for PGs once a week.

CME on Paediatric Emergencies — 07.10.2022, PMSSY Auditorium, GMKMC Salem.

• Quiz for UGs every year
• Gold Medal exams for UGs every year
• PG Quiz every year (all sponsored by the Indian Academy of Paediatrics)
• Gold Medal for PG students, from 2020, sponsored by Dr. TKP Thirugnanasambandam, senior paediatrician, Salem

Other Trainings Offered

• HMDI training for staff nurses — conducted for staff nurses from Salem during 2021 and 2022
• HMDI training for PHC medical officers

Posters Presented, 2021–2022

• A case of recurrent UTI diagnosed with horseshoe kidney — Dr. Sivanesan K
• A rare case of congenital hypertrichosis lanuginosa — Dr. Mohanraj
• A study on clinical profile and etiological factors of ventilator-associated pneumonia in a newborn tertiary care centre — Dr. Vignesh
• A case of neglected chronic back pain in a girl with sickle cell disease — Dr. Gowri M
• Bilateral Sturge–Weber syndrome — a case report — Dr. Gowri M
• Congenital generalised hypertrichosis lanuginosa — a case report — Dr. Gowri
• A case of minor blood group incompatibility (Anti-c) in a neonate — is there a need for routine maternal antibody screening? — Dr. Nithyalakshmi
• Motherhood in childhood: a cross-sectional study of neonatal outcome of adolescent pregnancy in a tertiary care hospital — Dr. Mohamed Zubin A

Papers Presented, 2021–2022

• A study of epidemiological and clinical characteristics of child sexual abuse reported to an urban public hospital in Tamil Nadu — Dr. Haripriya P. R.
• The out-of-pocket expenditures incurred during neonatal hospitalisation in a public hospital in Tamil Nadu — Dr. Gowri M
• A prospective study to assess the importance of microalbuminuria in predicting mortality in a paediatric critical care unit in a tertiary care centre — Dr. Nithyalakshmi
• A study of risk of premature atherosclerosis in children with beta thalassaemia major — a twin-centre study — Dr. Hema M

Dr. Haripriya P. R. — K. A. Krishnamoorthy Award for Best Paper in Social Paediatrics, PEDICON 2022, for "A study of epidemiological and clinical characteristics of child sexual abuse reported to an urban public hospital in Tamil Nadu"

Dr. Gowri M — Runner-up, K. A. Krishnamoorthy Award for Best Paper in Social Paediatrics, PEDICON 2022, for "The out-of-pocket expenditures incurred during neonatal hospitalisation in a public hospital in Tamil Nadu"

Dr. Hema M — Runner-up, Dr. B. R. Santhanakrishnan Award Paper, PEDICON 2022, for "A study of risk of premature atherosclerosis in children with beta thalassaemia major — a twin-centre study"

Dr. Nithyalakshmi — Second Prize, Dr. TR Award, for "A prospective study to assess the importance of microalbuminuria in predicting mortality in a paediatric critical care unit in a tertiary care centre"

Dr. K. Manoj — K. A. Krishnamoorthy Award for Best Paper in Social Paediatrics, PEDICON 2021, for "A study of mental health status of adolescents residing in tribal residential schools of Tamil Nadu"