Dr. Luxita Sharma is the Officiating Director of Amity Medical School at Amity University, Gurgaon. She has over 18 years of experience as a Dietician and in academia, where she started out as a Lecturer at Islamia Degree College. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Science and a Master of Science Degree in Food and Nutrition from Kurukshetra University. Thereafter, she qualified for the NET and earned a PhD in Food and Nutrition as well.

Dr. Sharma is the published author of 14 books on Nutrition and has written six book chapters. She even has ten patents filed or pending in her area of research and three copyrights. In appreciation of her hard work, Dr. Luxita received the Appreciation Award from the Hindustan Agricultural Research Welfare Society, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and IIMR on April 2023 and the Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Best Teacher and Researcher Award 2022 in Food & Nutrition, National Teachers Day Awards 2022 organized by the IMRF Institute of Higher Education and Research on September 2022 among other awards.

In her role in academia, Dr. Sharma has guided over 200 PG dissertations, 150 UG projects, and six PhD students. She also regularly participates in and organizes conferences, talks, and seminars, and submits research articles to renowned journals and magazines.

Amity University, Gurgaon

How do you ensure student has holistic exposure not just academics?

Healthcare is a booming sector that attracts specialized jobs for Healthcare Professionals. Students graduating in Healthcare from Amity Medical School, Amity University Haryana, enter into diverse fields of the health sector, which cater to a plethora of paramedical courses being offered. Our alumni are already working as Nutritionists, Dieticians, Optometrists, Audiologists, Speech Language Pathologists, Public Health professionals, Lab Technology professionals etc.

Amity Medical School is working continuously on Extension Activities and community outreach. Extension activities involve putting together knowledge and skills to help the community, rural and urban, improve their health and quality of life by means of Guest lectures, Health Camps, Health Fairs, Webinars, Conferences, and Training Programmes.

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects and how students get practical experience from studying the subject?

Amity Medical School has fully equipped laboratory facilities. We have Optometry and Vision Sciences Clinics, Audiology and Speech-Language Clinics, and Nutrition and Medical Lab Technology laboratories with modern equipment. We offer hands-on training sessions as well. We run daily OPDs which provide live cases to the students. The university runs a wide range of outreach programmes and events in the neighborhood to promote health and wellness, including free health check-ups and blood test camps, diet-related healthcare awareness programmes, and programmes to prevent eye, speech, and mental health-related disorders.

As part of its commitment to "Eradicate Preventive Blindness," the university offers its "eye testing clinic" free of charge to the neighborhood as well as free eye testing camps and the distribution of free eyeglasses and contact lenses to local residents. For the benefit of students and the neighborhood, a variety of lectures, webinars, and workshops are also held on a variety of essential health concerns.

What are the best practices offered by the department to the students which help them gain necessary skills?

For the smooth functioning of the department, we follow certain best practices for faculty members, and we also ensure to reinforce these practices among the students (if applicable). We ensure to deliver our lectures in English to a greater extent and re-explain things in Hindi if they are not understood by students. Analyzing weak students and keeping track of their performance throughout the semester. We also ensure to give personal attention to such students. We maintain proper mentor-mentee records and follow up with the students who are having some issues.

We make sure that all the labs are conducted properly so that the students can gain maximum hands-on experience. We help and motivate students to undertake internships in good organizations where they can learn and get exposure to present working scenarios. Additionally, the rich and valuable experience of the industry and its experts has been continuously shared with the students through a number of guest lectures and expert talks from time to time. The curriculum is enriched with the inclusion of projects, Dissertations, and Summer Internships with industry and hospitals. We also encourage students to pursue research and related activities like participating in conferences, symposiums, etc. so as to keep them updated with new innovations and technology.

How do you help your student to cope with the competition being so high in the outside world?

Both academia and industry focus on providing exposure to students before they graduate. Amity University offers company placements and internships to students through tie-ups and industry collaborations. We organize guest lectures, competitions, and conferences to expose students to the industry, where they get to talk and interact with experts. They can understand what skills to possess and know how to get job offers and stay ahead of the competition. This makes them ready to be successful healthcare professionals.

What do you see as the department’s/ college’s greatest strengths and how it helping students to excel?

Amity Medical School at Amity University Haryana has taken multiple steps to expose the students to the industry, one of which is collaborations with hospitals, health institutes, and organizations. There are many MoU and collaborations; these are the major contrivances for the prosperity of a Medical and paramedical educational institute. These academic collaborations are mutually beneficial to the organization and the university, which in turn benefit research and education. The students get hands-on training and exposure through industry experts. The University has collaborated with reputed organizations towards this end.

What valuable advice would you like to the students for them to have a prosperous career ahead?

Amity University Haryana will carve a pathway to success for you in terms of professional and personal development. Hard work and constant efforts will surely be the path to success. As Healthcare professionals, we should be ready to work for humanity and serve people.