Dr. Soumen Chatterjee is the Academic Head of iLEAD Kolkata. He has Graduated from Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi and Post Graduation from IIT-ISM, Dhanbad. He has completed his PhD from the Department of Business Administration, University of Burdwan. He has a rich experience in different academic and administrative capacities. He has been awarded the outstanding award in the 2nd National Convention on Responsible Leadership at XLRI, Jamshedpur and the Teaching Training Excellence award by the Indian Society of Training and Development (ISTD) Vadodara Chapter. He has been associated as an examiner with Lincoln University, Malaysia and is also a member of the International Editorial Review Board for IGI Global, USA. He is also a life member of TERA (Teaching and Education Research Association) promoted by Eurasia Research. He has rich industry experience and has handled many government projects under West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and offered consultancies to MSME Durgapur and Kolkata. His areas of interest are marketing management, educational leadership, distributed team management and educational consulting.

iLEAD

What are the latest courses that you are offering in your institute to help students out-perform and stand apart from the crowd?

"We are offering BBA in Hospital Management, B. Sc. in medical laboratory technology and medical instrumentation and critical case technology"

This Covid pandemic has shown all of us how inadequate medical infrastructure, medical and paramedical teams and medical services can become the cause of a medical crisis. Therefore, after carefully observing and analyzing the whole situation, iLEAD decided to introduce a healthcare vertical domain offering a series of allied health care and paramedical courses with the objective to prepare industry-ready healthcare professionals who can support the healthcare community at large. Hence we have introduced below four courses from 2022 itself.

  • BBA in Hospital Management
  • B.Sc. in Medical Laboratory Technology
  • B.Sc. in Medical Instrumentation and Critical Care Technology
  • Bachelor in Optometry

Which factors make these courses the best for the students to opt?

"All these courses will give tremendous job opportunities to graduates in upcoming years"

There are multiple factors actually which make all the below-mentioned courses unique and best for students. Let me tell you the benefits of each of them one by one:

BBA in Hospital Management: The hospital industry in India is accounting for around 80% of the total healthcare market and is witnessing a huge investor demand from both global and domestic investors. This industry is expected to reach $132 bn by 2023.

Apart from Doctors and other paramedical staff, the healthcare industry looks for competent and specialized Hospital Administrators to handle the administrative as well as the management needs of a hospital.

B.Sc. in Medical Laboratory Technology: Indian diagnostic labs market is expected to grow at an impressive CAGR of 12.25% during the period 2023-2027. So this marks the possibility of a huge expansion of this industry in India. Medical Laboratory Technicians are those professionals who are skilled in conducting laboratory tests and play a pivotal role in the comprehensive system by collecting, sampling, testing, reporting, and documenting medical investigations. They also deal with biochemical, pathological and microscopic examination of the body’s cells, tissues and fluids.

B.Sc. in Medical Instrumentation and Critical Care Technology: Globally the medical devices market is projected to grow from $455.34 billion in 2021 to $657.98 billion in 2028. And in India, it is expected to reach $50 bn by 2025 which signifies the tremendous requirement of Critical Care Technologist who generally takes care of critical care medical appliances. 

Bachelor in Optometry: India has a proud tradition of blindness prevention, being the first country in the world to implement a blindness control program i.e. National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) in 1976. Optometry is a very well-structured domain in healthcare having councils at the global and domestic levels. And in India, it is imperative to establish a cadre of eye care professionals to work in conjunction with ophthalmologists to deliver comprehensive eye care. 

What are some of the valuable insights of these courses that you are offering at your institute?

"We organize guest lectures, workshops, knowledge and hospital tours for students"

The main objective of our college is to impart the best quality theoretical and practical knowledge to students for their all-around growth and development. Hence we have done tie-ups with IRIS Hospital to give students a real-time exposure to the hospital environment while pursuing the 3 years course. Since B.Sc. in Medical Laboratory Technology is a clinical observation intensive course, students would learn more when exposed to multiple cases in a laboratory setup apart from classroom teaching. In this regard, we have a tie-up with R B Diagnostics wherein students get exposed to the real-time testing, reporting and documenting in a professional environment of a diagnostic centre. Apart from this, we have impaneled our Board of Studies (BoS) members from ILS Hospitals, Salt Lake, Kolkata, FORTIS Hospital Kolkata, R.B. Diagnostics, Kolkata, IRIS Hospital Kolkata, Himalaya Opticals, Kolkata and SRL & FORTIS Kolkata for value addition and road maps for these courses. We also organize corporate guest lectures where we invite industry professionals to share their knowledge of different domains with us and workshops for the professional development of students. Students also get to learn a foreign language which is offered free of cost to give them a competitive advantage. Lastly, we conduct knowledge tours in different hospitals for students to make them aware of the real-time environment of a hospital, its departments, patient handling and SOP, etc.

How do these courses ensure the future preparedness of students? 

"Our strong connection with our industry partners and alumni helps us to achieve this goal"

The pedagogy of iLEAD with more than a decade in the education sector has a proven legacy of preparing students for their future. Our strong alumni base backed by our resilient partnership with industry partners helps us to bring the best opportunities for our students to prepare them for the professional world.

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How did you train faculties to deliver these courses to the students?

"We train them by arranging training programs and workshops as and when required"

Our college does have a very good team of well-qualified and professionally trained faculties who mentor students both academically and professionally to make them industry-ready. And with the changing world, if we feel a need, we conduct workshops, skill development programs and faculty development programs for our faculty in association with experts from both industry and academic domains. 

How do you build an industry connectedness with these courses?

"Industrial tie-ups, guest sessions and workshops are some of the valuable insights"

Industry connection is a very important component under the National Education Policy 2020. At iLEAD we have manoeuvered this industry connects through:

  • Professional Tie-ups 
  • Board of Studies for Value Additions via Road Maps
  • Corporate Guest Lectures (CGL)
  • Workshops
  • Industry Visits

What were the challenges that you faced while implementing these courses in your curriculum?

"Convincing students for growth opportunities after pursuing these courses was definitely tough for us"

Making our students and their parents aware of the available career opportunities in the allied health sector or paramedical field after pursuing these courses was definitely a hurdle for us while implementing these courses in our curriculum.

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Which benefits and career options are available for students after pursuing these courses?

"Successful completion of these courses will open many doors for students for a better career"

From my experience, I can definitely say that there are abundant career scope and opportunities available after pursuing the below course.

BBA in Hospital Management: The jobs available after pursuing this 3 year course would be in any department of hospitals e.g. Outpatient Department, In Patient Department, Front Office, Medical Record Department, and Billing Section to even TPA Desks. The growth continuum after the course could be from Entry Level Executives, Senior Executives, Managers, Senior managers, Deputy GM, GM and even to the extent of COO (Chief Operating Officer) and CEO (Chief Executive Officer). 

If students are interested in pursuing higher studies then they can go for a Master in Hospital Administration.

B.Sc. in Medical Laboratory Technology: After pursuing this course, graduates can work as Lab Technician, Lab Supervisors, R&D Lab Assistant, R&D Lab Analysts, Junior Technical Executive, Junior Technical Executive and as Lab Instructor. If anyone is interested in pursuing higher studies, they can go for a Master degree in Medical Lab Technology. And in case a student wants to give employment rather than to seek employment, he/she can set up his/her own diagnostics centre and serve mankind as an entrepreneur.

B.Sc. in Medical Instrumentation and Critical Care Technology: After pursuing this course, career options are available in a wide spectrum of healthcare units like hospital ICU’s, emergency rooms, trauma centers, critical care ambulatory services and similar healthcare settings requiring emergency and critical care. 

Bachelor in Optometry: Students are generally recruited in eye hospitals, optical chains, vision care industries and even in contact lens companies. And for those who are interested in pursuing higher studies they can go for Master in Optometry.