Post graduate diploma in Hospital and Health Management (PGDHM) vs MBA in Hospital / Healthcare Management (MBA HM)

PGDHM expands to Post Graduate Diploma in Hospital and Health Management, the confusion starts when you see the term Diploma. Many students are of the view that it is a Diploma course and not a Degree; you are right to an extent that it is a Diploma. The main reason why postgraduate courses are named as PG Diploma is because when an Institute is an autonomous body (meaning it is not affiliated to any University) and conducts management courses then such Institutes cannot offer MBA degree. Even IIMs, XLRI’s doesn’t offer MBA degrees they only give PGP Diploma or PGDM since they are autonomous and independent bodies.

When an Institute secures autonomy they design their own curriculum to be taught instead of following outdated University syllabus. The reason why they chose to do is because the curriculum can be updated regularly depending on the need in Industry. Hence one can say that PGDM/PGDHM courses are more Industry relevant as compared to MBA courses.

Colleges which offer AICTE approved courses will also offer PG Diploma not MBA, for example XYZ College is affiliated to ABC University they offer MBA course affiliated to that University, the same college is offering AICTE approved course it means they are offering PGDM which is not linked to ABC University.
Typically if any PGDM/PGDHM is to be equivalent to MBA then the course duration should be 2 years, a 1 year PGDM/PGDHM will not be equal to MBA course.

• Only universities can offer MBA: In India only those management institutes which are affiliated to a university can offer an MBA degree. Also IIMs, though being the best of the lot, can’t offer MBAs as they are not affiliated with any university. Institutes which are not affiliated to university are autonomous and can offer PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma in Management)/ PGDHM degree. However, these programmes are approved by regulatory bodies such as AICTE.
• Difference in focus of curriculum: While there are huge similarities in the curriculum of both MBA and PGDM/PGDHM, there are finer points of difference. While MBA focuses more on theoretical aspects of management and is more exam-oriented, PGDM/PGDHM has a focus on building soft skills and is industry-oriented. It prepares you for the job market.
• Curriculum of PGDM/PGDHM is flexible: Since an autonomous institute does not have to follow university standards, it is free to change its curriculum according to industry standards and change in business environment. Also a PGDM/PGDHM gives you an industry exposure. Whereas it will take time to change the curriculum for MBAs as it is affiliated with a university and it will essentially follow the university guidelines and changing this curriculum is a very slow process.
• MBAs are more affordable: In compared to PGDM/PGDHM, generally MBAs are more affordable as the fee is almost similar to university standard.
• Difference in focus: An MBA will help in developing technical skills and business knowledge whereas a PGDM/PGDHM will prepare graduates for senior level positions in industry and paves the way for a strong corporate career. Hence, if you’re looking for a career in the challenging area of management, you should go for PGDM/PGDHM 

IIHMR Delhi - CONVOCATION CEREMONY 2017 for the conferment of Postgraduate Diploma in Hospital and Health Management

Generic vs. brand - laudable effort but must engage all stakeholders

What is a generic drug?

All drugs start as branded drugs. Pharmaceutical companies spend a large amount of money in research and development of new drugs. In order to recover these costs (average USD 1.2 billion for each drug), the drugs are patented by the companies, which developed it, to prevent anyone else from selling the drug for a defined period of time (e.g. 10-15 years). After this patent period is over the patent expires and other companies can make and sell this drug, now called generic. The generic drugs may be prescribed in two ways i.e. as generic (only generic name ) or generic brand (generic drug with manufacturer name in bracket). Generic drugs are in no way inferior, it is the same drug but at a later stage in the life cycle of a drug. A generic drug may be made and sold by a different company and may have different colour, packaging and inactive ingredients but the active ingredient is the same.

The Governments all over the world promote Generic Drugs to bring down the expenditure on healthcare:

In India annually, about 32 million people get pushed below poverty line because of expenditure on medical care. About two thirds of this expenditure is on medicines, making it a major reason of poverty in India (NHSRC estimates). Generic medicines are cheaper than brand-name drugs, hence will substantially reduce expenditure on health. In the US, the generic drugs that draw a large number of manufacturers average the cost falls to about 20% (US FDA).

The world has and is moving towards generic drugs. Let us take examples of two countries, US and Canada. In the US, generic and over-the-counter drugs account for about 80 percent of the sale. In the 2009, the main suppliers of generic drugs (about 40%) in the US were India and China.

(https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-generic-drugs-bad-for-you/ 01 May 2017).

In Canada (2011 Canadian Medical Association Journal ) generic drugs accounted for more than three-quarters of all prescriptions, but accounted for only 20% of spending on pharmaceuticals.

The Medical Council of India and the Indian Government have recently accelerated their efforts to promote prescription and the use of generic drugs to bring health care within reach of India’s poor. Government is committed to achieve Universal Healthcare and move towards right to health as stated in the recently released 2017 Health Policy. Promoting generic drugs nationally builds on the rich experience across states especially Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu who are pioneers in introducing generic drugs in public health system. In medical colleges, future doctors are taught about pharmacological compounds (generic drugs) only. They later learn about branded drugs from representatives or promotional activities of the pharmaceutical companies.

According to USFDA : 

Generic drugs are important options that allow greater access to health care for all Americans. They are copies of brand-name drugs and are the same as those brand name drugs in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use.

Health care professionals and consumers can be assured that FDA approved generic drug products have met the same rigid standards as the innovator drug. All generic drugs approved by FDA have the same high quality, strength, purity and stability as brand-name drugs. And, the generic manufacturing, packaging, and testing sites must pass the same quality standards as those of brand name drugs.

Who loses and who gains with promotion of generic drugs?

It is important to understand who gains and who loses by promotion of generic medicines and to understand the position being taken by different stakeholders in the current debate on generic drugs in India. The challenges and benefits from promotion of generic drugs are summarized in the Table below:

Table: Challenges and benefits from promotion of generic drugs

The Government must address the concerns about promotion of generic drugs:

Despite convincing scientific evidence that generic drugs are equivalent to branded medicines, there remains an undercurrent of fear towards generics in India. Even with very effective quality control in countries like the US, there have been concerns. A study in the US found that of 43 editorials in scientific journals, 53% expressed negative views concerning generic substitutions for branded cardiovascular disease pharmaceuticals (Kesselheim et al 2008 JAMA) mostly due to advertising by brand companies against generic drugs and some generic drug scandals. In India, the main concern raised by professional bodies is that the quality regulatory mechanism is weak. This may adversely impact on health outcomes.

Large generic manufacturers which have made India “the pharmacy of the world” meet international standards of quality control, but the manufacturers catering to the domestic market may not. Corruption and inducements that often lead to substandard drugs being sold in the market remains a major concern. Another concern is that the choice of manufacturer of generic drugs will shift to the chemist from the doctor which may affect quality of care if the medicine is substandard. The government needs to strengthen regulatory mechanisms and address corruption and inducements to assure availability of quality generic drugs to the public nationally. The pharmaceutical industry needs encourage all manufacturers to adopt Good Manufacturing Practices, voluntarily or through legal enforcement.

Conclusion

The recent decisions by the Medical Council of India and the government to promote generic drugs is welcome and will increase availability of medicines at affordable cost and contribute to reducing poverty. The concerns of the Indian Medical Association and other professional bodies regarding quality of generic drugs need to be seriously addressed by the government. It is important for the professional bodies to collaborate with the government in improving access to affordable quality medical treatment including medicines. There is a need for the government to engage all stakeholders along in its noble efforts to improve access, affordability, timeliness of high quality medical care to reach Universal Health Care and move towards right to health in the country.

Dr Sanjiv Kumar is

- Director, International Institute of Health Management Research, New Delhi

- Professor Leadership, Global Health & Program Management, CLEN Institute of Global Health, New Delhi,

- Formerly Executive Director, National Health Systems Resource Centre, Min of Health & FW, Govt of India

IIHMR Delhi offering Generous Scholarships for Post Graduate Program in Hospital and Health Management

IIHMR Delhi offering Generous Scholarships for AICTE approved and NBA Accredited Post Graduate Program in Hospital and Health Management
Specializations

: Health Information Technology
: Hospital Management
: Health Management

ALUMNI MEET 2015 at India Habitat Centre

The 5^th Alumni Meet of IIHMR Delhi was organized on 26^th September 2015 at India Habitat Centre, Delhi. The formal session started with welcome address by the Alumni Relations Incharge, Ms. Divya Aggarwal, Assistant Professor- HR & OB who emphasized on alumni using the influence to direct the development of society positively. She further inspired alumni to uphold good morals and act as an inspiration to the society. Subsequently Dr. Ashok K Agarwal, Dean- Academics addressed the Alumni and focused on the vision and significance of alumni association. He also expressed his gratitude for alumni’s presence. Later, Dr. A. K. Khokhar, Director- IIHMR Delhi addressed the gathering and emphasized upon the importance of alumni coming back to their alma mater and said that the alumni of the institute are the ‘Brand Ambassadors’ for the Institute and the existing batch of students can take advantage of their guidance and expertise by developing good networking with these alumni. The event was made entertaining by a series of ice breaking sessions and games conducted by current batch Alumni representatives. The event was concluded with grand network dinner. It was a very good platform for the ongoing batch of students and a great opportunity to interact with Alumni members.