Know about IIHMR Delhi: Interview with Dr. Sutapa Bandyopadhyay Neogi (Director)

International Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) Delhi is a part of the Society for Indian Institute of Health Management Research. It is approved by the AICTE. The institute has collaboration with leading universities, corporations and boards in the Healthcare sector. IIHMR Delhi offers postgraduate (PG) and doctoral level courses in health and hospital management studies. Courses offered by IIHMR are, PGDM in Hospital & Health Management, Executive Program on Hospital Management (EPHM), Executive Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health Financial Management (EPGDPHFM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), and Fellow Program in Management (FPM).

Careers360 in an interview with Dr. Sutapa Bandyopadhyay Neogi, Director - IIHMR, Delhi. Dr. Sutapa is also a public health specialist actively engaged in research and teaching at IIHMR. She aims to mentor students and young professionals looking forward to bringing about development in the field of public health. In this interview she talks about the various programmes offered by the International Institute of Health Management Delhi, the admission process and other significant achievements of the institute. Go through the complete article to know more about IIHMR Delhi.

Careers360: Can you give us a broad description of the institution, and what exactly it stands for?

Dr. Sutapa: IIHMR as a group of institutions has a long legacy of 36 years. It has the distinction of being the first institution in the country that offers a particular course in the field of health and hospital management. The first campus was established in Jaipur, the second one came up in Bengaluru and the third one in Delhi. At IIHMR we have three terminologies which are of importance to anybody who wants to join health management, first is International, second is Management and the third is Research. So in this institution, basically the concept is amalgamation of these three terminologies. This means whatever we teach is to make the students as brand ambassadors for IIHMR. Health & Hospital and Health IT Management are the three streams we offer as a part of the course, which means we train our students to be able management professionals who can contribute in the best possible ways in any sector related to the healthcare industry. Most of the institutions only focus on the concept of management but what we emphasise is that research is a very important pillar if you want to bring about any change in the management sector. We engage ourselves, the faculty and students in doing implementation research that directly impacts policies and programs. Our classroom teaching as well as outside classroom teaching both have a lot of exposure to a lot of public health, health management, hospital management and hospital IT management.

Read more: IIHMR Delhi courses & fees

Careers360: What is the typical profile of a student who joins IIHMR?

Dr. Sutapa: The students who appear in our GD, PI or in our courses have to be a graduate. Most of our graduates have been from BDS or dentistry background. We have students who come from allied science backgrounds such as physiotherapy, nursing and pharmacy. So we do not really differentiate between students who come here. Anybody who has the aptitude or willingness to contribute to the health sector is a potential student, but we have put down some criteria for them to become eligible formally, the students must have got a minimum percentage in graduation degree and this varies from field to field we also consider. Students who have cleared a national or a state level management entrance exam like CAT, CMAT, XAT, MAT, ATMA, GMAT before they appear for GD-PI at IIHMR Delhi.

Careers360: In terms of the profile of the student who chooses to do management in health science, is it typically allied science students?

Dr. Sutapa: I would say around 50-60% students who choose to join IIHMR belong to the field of dentistry or allied science which means directly or indirectly they are allied science students but doors are open for non allied science students as well. In the recent year we have seen students from commerce or other streams IIHMR.

Careers360: Kindly elaborate on the Placements at IIHMR

Dr. Sutapa: We believe a lot in our networking and collaborations with organizations in the health sector. Typically what we do is that when we approach the time of summer training we actually open it up for all organizations to approach us. The students get to interact with the companies and are later placed in the placement process. In the last year we had collaborations with different government, non-government organizations, so through those collaborations our students got the opportunity to do their summer training in the different states of the country.

Also Read: IIHMR Delhi Admission

Careers360: Can you for the benefit of the students tell us the kind of campus and quality of campus life students have at IIHMR Delhi?

Dr. Sutapa: IIHMR campus is located in Dwarka. We have enough space to run 5 courses simultaneously. We have Wifi enabled smart classrooms, latest IT technology, a vibrant library which can be accessed beyond college hours. We have a cafeteria where students can go and have quality food. We have accommodation for female students, outside the campus. We have facilities to hold seminars and webinars which are of national and international level and we have faculty members who are multi- disciplinary and dedicated to teaching and improving the skills of students. Beside this we also have computer labs with almost 100 computers, the sole aim is to provide hands-on experience to IIHMR students.

Careers360: Can you explain to the students the kind of gender diversity and demographic diversity at IIHMR?

Dr. Sutapa: If we analyse last year's statistics, we got students from 20 states, so this tells a lot about the diversity we are having. Out of all the students 60-70% are girls.

Quick Link: IIHMR Delhi Facilities

Careers360: The summer internship you provide do they typically convert to a pre-placement offer?

Dr. Sutapa: Internships are basically to provide the students an exposure to different programs, policies and management practices. What we tell the students is that this is the time to soil your hands and gain experience. If you’re able to perform well then this organization may offer you PPO. So that depends entirely on the student’s aptitude. For summer training which typically happens at the end of the first year it is the choice of the student and the organization that really matters. Towards the end of the second year when students are mature enough to select a particular stream that is when the pre-placement offers and packages come in.

Careers360: For the batch 22’ what kind of companies participated in the placement drive?

Dr. Sutapa: We were approached by different organizations that represent academia, research organizations, hospitals, which are public, private, corporate, even National health Mission of different states they also approached us. Last year around 10% of students were placed abroad. So that means we have collaboration with some of the hospitals which are international or global and they approached us to take our students and that’s how 10% of our students were placed in corporate hospitals internationally.

Check this: IIHMR Delhi Placement

Careers360: At the end of second year the student again has to choose a pathway between Health Management, Hospital Management, Health IT Management, Is it an automatic choice? Can you explain how the process works?

Dr. Sutapa: Till last year students used to choose streams based on their interest. But off late what we have seen is post covid there is a kind of upsurgence in the Health IT, this is primarily because of the noise being created that the Health Information Technology is the key to everything or it could be because after having experience of work of home people feel that if they take up Health IT as a specialization they may get the luxury of working from home. What we want to impress on the students is whatever field they choose, they are primarily working for the health system so if you don’t understand the health system wherever you go you are not going to succeed. That is what our teaching has been till now that you are free to choose any field provided you know what the health system is and health culture is. So this year also we will be getting students who choose to take up Health management, Hospital management or Health IT management.

Careers360: What kind of average salary they get once placed from IIHMR?

Dr. Sutapa: Last year the average salary received was Rs 6 LPA and the highest salary was more than Rs 24 LPA.

Careers360: Any more information you want to tell the students in terms of making IIHMR their preferred choice?

Dr. Sutapa: One piece of advice is IIHMR is not a typical Bschool. We are working for health and behind everything there is a life. We aspire to groom our students so they become responsible managers. We are not creating managers for the sake of earning money or for getting a position as manager. We want them to realise whatever they do they are ultimately doing it for the population and for the country and wherever they choose to work they should first feel privilege and proud that they are serving as an Indian and then as an IIHMR alumni and then as an individual. If this basic feeling is there in an individual then I believe only sky's the limit.

Disclaimer: This content was distributed by International Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) Delhi and has been published as part of Careers360’s marketing initiative.

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