Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) has made
significant progress in the last 50 years, not only in terms of
membership strength, but also our academic stature has grown. Our organs
(branches, chapters, journals) also have progressed a lot. The Golden
Jubilee Volume January issue of Indian Pediatrics is a testimony
to these achievements. The definition of child has now embraced
adolescents up to 18 years of age – this also has widened the scope of
Pediatrics enormously. Now, we have many sub-specialities under the
umbrella of "Child Care". In our Golden Jubilee year, our prime aim will
be to re-organize and re-strengthen our academic wing, so that we may
maintain and enhance our value in society and also generate confidence
among our members.
If we intend to define ‘Values" for an organization
like ours, we must have the following:
Command on child health issues: IAP must be
recognized and respected as the authority on child health.
Updated knowledge: IAP must be committed to
leading the way in pediatric research and training.
Effective health plans: IAP must be champions of
the best health outcomes for children and young people.
Professional approach: IAP should be the standard
bearer of child health in the medical profession.
These all can be achieved if we have determination
and vision. What we need is a perfectly structured wing of IAP through
which all the academic activities are routed and transpired. After a
long discussion we thought that it is high time IAP should institute the
concept of an Indian College of Pediatrics (ICP) -The academic
wing of IAP. The motive of ICP would be to achieve all the four
Values for our IAP.
To begin with, let us discuss about ICP in relation
to Subspecialty Chapters - as it is the most important point. Almost all
the Chapters are running their academic certification courses and
fellowships where IAP lends its name without any involvement in terms
of quality assurance. There is a possibility (though small) of
certificate/fellowship distribution in name of IAP without maintenance
of quality. Therefore, standards for Quality Assurance in terms of
course curriculum, institutions, faculty, examiners and examination,
certification of candidates and also accreditation of institutions, need
to be drawn. This is a no cost or low cost intervention for quality
assurance of the activities without compromising the autonomy of
Chapters in conducting the courses.
I envision a regulatory role of the College in terms
of accreditation of institutions (both new and old), curriculum
formulation and quality of training and certification of candidates. It
is a long awaited endeavor of IAP, and a felt need of the association
and its members – the major thrust would be on Quality Assurance. The
concept has been appreciated by the academicians and senior members of
IAP. It is another step in improving Academics by our Academy.
Mission and Vision
The Mission of the Indian College of Pediatrics is to
enable all children to reach their optimal physical and emotional health
and well-being by building the capacity of health care providers. To
this end, we recognize the role of pediatricians in general and
sub-specialties chapters in particular. A well woven network which is
ably administered and monitored shall assure quality in this endeavor.
With this concept, the Executive Board 2013 has
endorsed ICP – Indian College of Pediatrics. The College will work
towards the objective of expanding the scope of perceived benefit to the
members by fulfilling growing academic needs of the members. The
academic activities of the college are aimed at promotion, practice and
advancement in the science of Pediatrics, which will contribute to
optimal care of children.
The College shall deal with academic matter of the
Academy and its Chapters. It will serve as an independent regulatory
body for setting the standards and quality assurance of various
fellowship, certificates, and other academy courses run by IAP and its
Chapters and Groups. It will assist in formulating appropriate syllabi
for undergraduate and post-graduate teaching and make suitable
recommendations for their acceptance to the National Board of
Examinations, Medical Council of India, Universities and Colleges.
The College will organize seminars, symposia,
workshops in different part of the country. It shall also keep itself
appraised of the academic activities of other national and international
societies and keep the members aware of the recent advances in
Pediatrics.
The College shall explore the possibility of
organizing academic programs to further education and training of health
personnel associated with care of children. The College will also aim to
work for advancement of research and publication in the field of
Pediatrics in India, by the members of the Academy.
Objectives
The proposed objectives and activities of the Indian
College of Pediatrics are enumerated below:
1. The "INDIAN COLLEGE OF PEDIATRICS" shall be
the academic wing of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics. It will serve
as an independent regulatory body for setting the standards and
quality assurance for various fellowships, certificate and other
academic courses run by the Chapters and Group of Indian Academy of
Pediatrics.
2. To further the advancement of research and
publication in the field of Pediatrics in India.
3. To coordinate/organize other academic
activities of IAP, as directed the Executive board from time to
time.
4. To collaborate with national/International
organization on academic activities related to IAP. It shall deal
with all academic matters, formulate syllabi for undergraduate and
post-graduate teaching and make suitable recommendations for its
acceptance to the National Board of Examinations, Medical Council of
India, Universities and National Academy of Medical Sciences and
AIIMS like institutions and Colleges and hospitals conducting
various fellowship and certificate courses.
5. To aim for capacity building of teachers of
Pediatrics to allow them to optimally use good teaching and
assessment practices.
6. The College shall institute traveling
fellowships and visiting lecturerships.
7. It shall invite innovative and research
studies from members of the association for suitable awards and
certificates (award for best thesis etc).
8. The College may form an authors’ group to
write textbooks under the aegeis of the college in various
Pediatrics subspecialties or related specialties.
9. The College shall work towards augmenting the
capacity of teachers of Pediatrics by way of training in good
teaching and assessment practices. Pediatricians working in
non-academic institutions but involved in teaching and training
(e.g. for DNB and fellowship courses) will also be covered.
10. The College shall explore the possibility of
organizing training programs for the students, doctors, and nurses.
It shall accept donations and organize events to raise funds for the
financial assistance of its academic activities.
The College will try to develop teams of educators
from various institutions in various regions, who will train the
pediatric teachers in ‘teaching and assessing clinical skills’ and
developing suitable models for workplace based assessment.
The College will be governed by a Governing Council
(GC), an Academic Council (AC) and an Executive Council (EC). College
will also have a panel of advisors. It will be mandatory for the
Chapters to become members of the ICP by applying for it – to use the
IAP logo and certificate for their courses.
The entire constitution and rules of ICP has been
framed and it will start functioning in from 1