Updated on: Monday, September 07, 2009
Did you know that there is a difference between your chronological age and biological age? Well, there is. And the study of those differences is going to be a specialisation that will be in great demand in the years to come.
In order to keep up with this demand, the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical Varsity has decided to offer a two-year postgraduate diploma course in Age Management and Applied Sciences beginning this academic year. Vice-chancellor Meer Mustafa Hussain says the course is being offered in collaboration with one of the leading practitioners of age management — Harley Street Medical Park — and is bound to create a lot of employment opportunities for students. This would also entail for the university the creation of 19 new departments in a phased manner.
The aim of the university in starting this course is to access state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment, access selective bio-informatics and provide an information database that would be useful to state and central goverments.
The objectives of the partnership includes the conduct of research and clinical trials in the field of Clinical Age Management, regenerative/stem cell therapy, clinical genomics, preventive cardiology, functional fitness, diet and neutraceuticals, medical computing and bio informatics, and preventive psychiatry among other areas.
“This would provide a wholesome view of age management as a discipline. With increasing awareness about the need to change lifestyles and keep chronic diseases at bay,t here is surely going to be a surge of interest in this subject. Students who pass out will be part of a new way of managing health and lifestyles,” Dr. Hussain added.
The collaboration would be beneficial to the varsity in that it would estalish a modern helath institute and help with the setting up of various departments; provide high technology clinical, preventive and functional medicine. At some point of time, it is envisaged that world-class hospitals and clinics will be set up to provide services to domestic and overseas patents. Teaching will be by a core group of faculty drawn from centres of excellence across the world. Research is a key component to the programme as well.
Riding on the varsity’s research on twins, the students who enroll into the new course will launch on a study to estimate twin-ageing patterns.
In addition, there will be research on ancient Indian literary material on lifestyle and the possible synergies between modern and traditional Indian systems of medicine.