Media Release
Mangaluru, Feb 6: Dr Santosh T Soans, here, was elected as the founding president of the newly constituted Medical Education Chapter of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP-MEC). He will assume office during the official installation of office bearers at the national conference of IAP on February 6 in Mumbai. He has also been elected for a two-year term as a member of the Governing Council of the Indian College of Pediatrics.
The medical education sector has undergone exponential growth during the last two decades. Today, the country has 542 medical colleges and 64 stand-alone PG institutes whose qualifications are recognized by MCI. There are numerous institutions offering DNB and other courses too. A large number of people study or teach at these institutions. The post-Covid scenario has ushered in a radical transformation of education. Online teaching and hybrid interactions have replaced the traditional classroom tutorial format of education. The need for social distancing has reconfigured doctor-patient relationships. The surge of digitalization is sweeping all sectors of public life. Hence the Indian Academy of Pediatrics has instituted a Medical Education Chapter to address the challenges faced in pediatric medical education and help to improve the standards and elevate it to world-class. With nearly 10,000 IAP members being directly or indirectly associated with academics, IAP-MEC is poised to emerge as the largest chapter of IAP.
A pioneer in Pediatric Intensive Care in this region, Dr Santosh Soans is an experienced academician and practicing pediatrician. He is an alumnus of Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru and Manipal. He presently serves at AJ Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangaluru as professor and head of the department of Pediatrics as well as chief of NICU / PICU. He has earlier served as faculty at Father Muller Medical College. Over the last two decades, he groomed innumerable undergraduates and postgraduates students.
“It is my privilege to lead this fledgling organization as its founding president. I have always believed that academic advancement and scientific accomplishments are the bedrock of evidence-based medicine. This new academic wing of IAP will enable thousands of pediatric medical educators across the country to keep pace with the latest developments in medical education and meet their professional development goals,” said Dr Santosh T Soans.
Dr Santosh Soans has been actively involved with Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) for nearly three decades and served as its national president in 2018. He also served as the national vicep-president (2010), national chairman, intensive care chapter (2013) and Karnataka state president (2015). He was conferred with the ‘Outstanding Asian Pediatrician Award 2018’ by the Asia Pacific Pediatric Association and is a recipient of the ‘IMA Doctors Day Award 2019’. He is a much sought after speaker for national and international medical conferences. He has authored two books, contributed chapters to several medical textbooks and published articles in various medical journals.