FIELD VISIT TO FAMILY HEALTH CARE CENTRE, CHATHANNOOR,KOLLAM
The Department of Public Health Dentistry, Azeezia College of Dental Science and Research and NSS unit(NSS/SFU/KLM/KUHS/3) conducted a field visit for final year, part A students to family health centre (FHC), Chathanoor on 11-03-2026.
The field visit started at 11:50 am. At the FHC the staff has conducted an interactive sessions which deals about the health programs conducted in India Dr Ratheesh (Junior Health inspector JHH) gave us a brief Idea about Kerala’s primary healthcare structure, starting from the Directorate of Health Services to district hospitals, community health centres which was again divided into subcenters . He also mentioned about One World One Health program and its arousing importance after the Covid pandemic.
The main aim of the FHC is to improve everybody’s health which was more efficient in public sectors than in private sectors .But nowadays a correlation between public and private sectors are also been introduced but not yet completely established . He also added that this reduced the number of referral appointments to higher levels in health sectors. Earlier only preventive and promotive care was provided at FHC which now has also added curative care. He also mentioned efficiency of pain and palliative care in Kerala and how well they are working. Several national health programs are implemented through PHC’s every year, which included Aayushman Arogya Mandir, Aayushman Bharat Janarogya Yojana, Maternal and child Health (RCH) programme, National Tuberculosis Elimination programme (NTEP), National mental Health program (NMHP), National tobacco control programme (NTCP) etc. The Health programs and services are monitored through digital reporting system. The integrated Health information platform (IHIP) is a national digital platform used for disease surveillance and reporting.
Then we were introduced to immunization room at FHC. The Nurse at the immunizations room explained about the immunization schedule from the time of birth till 15 years of age. She showed us the vaccine storage room where a precise temperature typically +2°C to +8°C for refrigerated vaccines are used to ensure potency. They utilize specialised equipments like pharmaceutical grade freezers, where vaccines are kept in separate packaging, the packs which flows in water to inhibit the freezing of vaccines. Digital Data loggers are present to monitor and record temperatures.
At the OP block, nurse explained about” the functioning and structure of OP block. A token system is followed and patients are then taken for a pre-checkup, vitals are recorded and then allotted to doctors. She also showed us the injection room, observation room, the OP rooms, pharmacy and waste segregation room.
The visit concluded at 1:15 p.m. The field visit provided valuable practical exposure to the functioning of public health care delivery system at primary level and implementation of various national health programs. It also included valuable information about the importance of immunization and schedule dose, route of administration of each vaccines. Overall, the field visit was highly informative and extremely beneficial regarding the current public health structure and its functioning.
