Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital Launch DM Nephrology Course

Vardhman Mahavir Medical College (VMMC) and Safdarjung Hospital have launched a Doctorate of Medicine (DM) program in Nephrology. The program will begin from the 2025 session, making VMMC the third medical college in Delhi to offer this super-speciality course, after AIIMS and Ram Manohar Lohia (RML).

New DM Seats Announced

Until now, only two colleges in Delhi offered this course. Starting this academic session, a third has been added. It has been reported that there will be three seats for DM Nephrology, which will be allocated to students within the top 10 ranks.

Dr. Geetika Khanna, Principal of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, also expressed pride in launching the course. She mentioned how it will help strengthen the workforce through postgraduate training and support the large patient load handled by the hospital.

Benefits of This Course

It’s estimated that about 10% of Indians suffer from kidney-related conditions, with the prevalence of chronic kidney disease ranging between 10.65% and 17.2%. With a growing population, kidney-related issues have become a major public health concern. Roughly 1.75 lakh new end-stage renal disease cases are reported every year.^[1]

Despite the growing burden, India has a shortage of nephrologists, around 2,600 currently practicing, which translates to only one nephrologist per million people. While there are about 72 nephrology training programs in India, the number of trained specialists remains insufficient to meet the rising demand.^[2]

Starting this course at VMMC and Safdarjung will help increase the number of specialists across the country and may encourage more students to pursue the field.

Dr. Himanshu Verma, Head of the Nephrology Department at Safdarjung Hospital, stated that around 6,000 to 7,000 kidney patients visit the hospital every month. The new course is expected to help manage this patient load more efficiently.

Why It Matters

With more government colleges introducing this course, the supply-demand gap for nephrologists may begin to improve. There is a need for qualified specialists to reduce healthcare costs through early detection and treatment. Dialysis and transplant treatments are already expensive in India.

While programs like the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Program aim to support economically weaker patients, preventing kidney damage through timely intervention will have far greater long-term impact. This small step at VMMC could play a role in that larger shift.

References:

1. Spandana, Gollapudi Sai, Stalin Viswanathan, Deepak Barathi S, Jayachandran Selvaraj. “Etiology and Outcomes in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease and Ascites.” Cureus, July 8, 2024. Accessed June 25, 2025. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.64113.

2. Bharati, Joyita, and Vivekanand Jha. “Global Dialysis Perspective: India.” Kidney360 1, no.10 (August 19, 2020): 1143-47. Accessed June 25, 2025. https://doi.org/10.34067/kid.0003982020.

(Input From Various Sources)

(Rehash/Pooja Bansal/MSM)