National Academy of Medical Sciences
Bir Hospital
Kathmandu, Nepal
Bir Hospital– Service: Bir Hospital, the nation’s oldest medical institute established in the year 1889 AD, has been developed into the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS). It has been contributing much towards the delivery of health care in the country. Every year the Bir Hospital admits 8,354 inpatient, deals with 3,10,942 outpatient attendance and treats over 60,000 accidents and emergency cases. It has currently 400 beds. The new Trauma and Emergency Block, which will be completely developed within a few months, will add further 200 beds. Beside the general medical service, Bir Hospital provides services in highly specialised areas like Neurology, Neuro-Surgery, Cardiology, Cardio-thorasic and Vascular Surgery, Burn and Plastic Surgery, Nephrology, Urology, G.I. surgery, Gastroenterology, Hepatology (separate unit) and Radiotherapy. The Bir Hospital, thus, provides services to the community in most medical and surgical specialty and super-specialties through emergency, outpatient and impatient facilities. Majority of outdoor examination service and indoor beds in Bir Hospital are free. This is the only tertiary referral center in the country which provides such free service.
Bir Hospital – Academic: The hospital plays an important role in training the medical and nursing professionals in the country. In a way, Bir Hospital is the first teaching hospital for, with the Civil Medical School initially located here, the teaching of compounders and dressers and later nurses used to take place at this institution. Nursing education started since 1954 AD and later nursing campus was established. The Bir Hospital is the training ground for the doctors of the Health Ministry. Bir Hospital has been the center for the training of FRCS, MRCP, MRCOG, and FCPS (Pakistan) candidates too. About two decades before, MBBS programme of Institute of Medicine, TU Teaching Hospital first started here with its building, patients and manpower. Later it got shifted to Institute of Medicine along with many of the doctors working in Bir Hospital. MBBS students from Nepal Medical College are posted here for clinical training. Pre-intern, Intern and elective students from within and outside the country also come here for training. About two decades ago, Post- Graduate Medical Education Coordination Committee (PGMECC) started postgraduate clinical MD/MS programme in many subjects with cooperation between Bir Hospital and Institute of Medicine and other hospitals like Maternity Hospital and Kanti Children Hospital. Now Bir Hospital has been formally developed into the National Academy of Medical Sciences as a deemed university.