About NITOR

The National Institute of Traumatology & Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) is an orthopedic hospital as well as undergraduate & post-graduate institute, situated at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is established in 1972 after liberation war of Bangladesh. It's also the first ever rehabilitation institute in Dhaka. The government set up the institute to spread medical knowledge and to make more efficient doctors for the country. This orthopedic institute is surrounded by many other specialized hospitals; such as, the National Institute of Cardiac and Vascular Disease (NICVD), the National Institute of Ophthalmology (NIO), National Institute of Kidney Diseases & Urology(NIKDU) and the National Institute of Mental Health(NIMH).
 

History

NITOR is the fruit of liberation war. With the war of liberation, the new nation of Bangladesh was left with a great number of war injured . Although a few of the freedom fighters from among the wounded were taken by foreign countries for treatment, the great bulk of the wounded including the civilians had to be taken care of by the new nation itself. The Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibar Rahman take a great initiative to rehabilitate the injured freedom fighters. In February 1972, Prof. R.J. Garst, American Orthopaedic Surgeon, Specialist in the field of Rehabilitation along with his wife Marie M. Garst visited Bangladesh and assessed the problem as a whole and decided to go ahead towards its solution. Patronized by the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibar Rahman, Dr. Garst planned to establish an orthopaedic hospital to accommodate all the war affected in one place which the government gladly agreed. Within three months of his arrival his relentless effort lead to the establishment of the hospital, which was then popularly known as Mukti Bahini Hospital. In May 1972 the out patient building of the Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital was converted into an inpatient hospital with necessary modification and alteration. This was the establishment of independent trauma management unit in Bangladesh and sowing of the seed of an orthopedic specialty. On 5 January 1973 the faculty of medicine of Dhaka University acted on suggestion and appointed a committee to inspect the Shahid Suhrawardy hospital as an acceptable place for establishing a post graduate course in orthopaedic. Prof. R.J. Grast realized the need for the hospital having its own building and approached the authority concern, the results of which is the present hospital complex and was shifted to this new site in early 1978. This is the biggest orthopaedic hospital in the south Asia having 500 beds. It was then named Rehabilitation institute and hospital for the disabled (RIHD). In 1974 the NEC of Bangladesh approved the plans of RIHD and Dr. R.J. Garst was honored with the post of Project Director of the proposed hospital complex.

Present Overview of NITOR

National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) is a 500 bed tertiary center, receiving referral patients from all over the country. The following departments are working side by side with co-ordination between each other.

Casualty department: Round the clock an orthopaedic team is available for management of orthopaedic trauma patients. There are shifting duties of 12 hourly rotations. In each shift there are two senior residents. Assistant Registrars, Registrars and Consultants are on duty. Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professors remain on Call.

Out-patient department: Professor in charge of unit remains physically present with the whole team to cover OPD. About 10 doctors attend the OPD clinic 6 day a week.

In Patient Services at NITOR: Functionally there are 12 units (teams) for Orthopaedics and Traumatology named after the natural colors, such as Blue I & II, Green I & II, Pink I & II, Red I & II, Violet I & II, YellowI & II. There is also Department of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery, Department of Anaesthesiology and Department of Physiotherapy and Occupational therapy. Other auxiliary department includes Department of Radiology and imaging, Department of Pathology, Department of Blood Transfusion, Limb Brace workshop and Social welfare department. Over the last 10 years there has been a tremendous increase in the number of patients being treated at NITOR. The following data shows this increase in the number of patients.

Patient Attendance & Operation at NITOR

Year	Patient Attended	Patient Admitted	No. of Operation
2000	57748	11591	13422
2001	96979	13089	17882
2002	107250	14296	18337
2003	108299	15729	18898
2004	108941	16068	19406
2005	114650	16955	21660
2006	117795	17331	22300
2007	130386	19631	41817
2008	126968	20496	26109
2009	101867	21101	25252
2010	131032	21597	24990

Departments

Orthopedics & Traumatology

Physiotherapy

Physical Medicine

Plastic Surgery

Anesthesiology

Transfusion Medicine

Pathology

Radiology & Imaging

Cardiology

Social Welfare

Academic activities

Vast arrays of academic activities are performed at NITOR. The daily morning clinical conference, which is held form 8.00am to 9.00am is unique among all the Medical colleges and Medical Institutes in Bangladesh. First 45 minutes is spent for presentation of cases listed for operation on that day. This is like a medical board including all the senior and junior orthopaedic surgeons of NITOR and post graduate residents. The residents present the cases scheduled for operation for that day and audiences in the house listen to the unit plan. A brief but informative discussion is held on the case presented before the house and definitive operation plan is formulated and further follow-up schedule of the particular patient is planned. This endeavor is not only beneficial to the patient but also for the students as they can learn the management of cases. Rest 15 minutes is for discussing the activities of past 24 hours which includes the presentation of the total number of cases attending the emergency and casualty department and postoperative x-ray presentation. From 8:00am to 4:pm is lectured by the professor, associate professors and lecturers on a prescribed schedule so as to cover the entire syllabus of Bsc. in Physiotherapy in 4 years. From 9:00am to 10:00 am is lectured by the professor and associate professors on a prescribed schedule so as to cover the entire syllabus of M.S. (Ortho) and D. Ortho course in 2 years time. Clinical demonstrations are made in ward round which starts as soon as the morning session ends. Clinical demonstrations are also made in OPD and at class room; case of academic interest attending the OPD are discussed at 1.30pm. This session is taken by the assistant professor, consultants and registrars. This session also covers practical demonstration like x-ray, specimen, brace, orthosis and orthotics. An arrangement for Cadaver dissection is available almost throughout the year. Every Wednesday morning is the Journal club meeting and Thursday clinical presentation of those cases requiring discussion and opinion by the specialists and whole house. Presentation of research projects are done periodically. Visiting consultants are incorporated with the daily functions of the institute along with other consultants of the hospital.

Research Activities

A large number of research activities have been performed in this institute. Submission of a complete research work is mandatory to appear in the final MS (Orth). Since 1976 about 248 research works were done.

Extracurricular activities

Each and every year the students celebrate the national days by performing cultural programe. Also the students celebrate the Iftar Party, Swarasti Puja,Pahela Baisakh, Indoor Games Competition in the college campus.

The students celebrate their 30 days, 100 days, year ending, and batch programs on campus.

Academic Council

The academic council holds meeting every month and evaluates the progress of students of the institute, update the curriculums and make schedules of classes and research activities of the institute. The academic council maintain liaison with the University.

Medical library service

Library contains almost all the orthopaedics & Trauma Surgery and Physiotherapy books and journals. Services are available from 8 am to 10 pm and home issue provisions are also there for students and faculty.