For just 30 seats, nearly 9,000 students from across the country have applied for the newly introduced four-year interdisciplinary B.S. programme in Sciences and Technology by IIT Madras. The first batch is starting on July 31. The course in medical sciences and engineering is the first of its kind in India.

Profiles are coming from across the country, said Boby George, head, department of Medical Sciences and Technology, IIT Madras.

The course offers an interdisciplinary approach to prepare students to design life-saving medical devices, drug discovery, artificial intelligence in medicine and fundamental medical research. The department will train physicians to effectively apply technology in their clinical practice and lay the foundation for physician-scientists training in India.

The head of the department said that the course is special, as the student, after the course, will have a detailed understanding of the medical and biological aspects of the human body, as well as the engineering knowledge and skills to understand the human body from an engineer’s view point. There are options to specialise in highly demanding topics like AI for medicine, device development, medical imaging and pharmacology, he said.

IAT rankings apply

The selection of the candidate will be through the IISER Aptitude Test 2023. The IAT rank of the applicant will be used, he told businessline.

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The aim of this new course is to equip scientists and engineers with the necessary skills to advance medical research. The Department will integrate medical education and engineering to introduce innovative practices into clinical settings.

The goal is to teach clinicians an engineering approach to the human body and provide engineers with a clinical understanding.

IIT Madras launched the Department of Medical Sciences and Technology in May, from which the B.S. programme in medical sciences and engineering is offered. Top medical doctors in India and abroad, who were also closely involved in the development of the curriculum, will be ‘Professors of Practice’ in this department, which has already established tie-ups with premier hospitals and medical institutions in India, says a release.

Courses offered

The department will have programmes such as B.S. in Medical Sciences and Engineering (four-year programme); PhD programme for doctors; MS in research for doctors; MS in Medical Sciences and Engineering; and PhD programme for Science and Engineering graduates.

In the release, Dr Rajan Ravichandran, director, MIOT Institute of Nephrology, said engineers and doctors have been in their own worlds and the integration between the two has nearly never happened. This course, where engineers are going to get exposed to various medical branches and the medical line of thinking, while at the same time, with an engineering mind, will make a great difference. This will be the stepping stone for a new speciality in the country.

Wilson Thomas, managing director, Carl Zeiss India, said, “This is a great step in finding solutions to common problems that we do not have that often go to market strategies. There are many medical companies — medical devices, solutions and software — which are operating in India which can absorb these students.”

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