Prof. Dr. Nabees Man Singh Pradhan has been appointed Vice-Chancellor of the Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS), following an open competitive selection process run jointly across six of Nepal's health science academies. The appointment ends nearly ten weeks of caretaker leadership at PAHS, which began when the government removed the academy's previous Vice-Chancellor and other senior office-holders including Prof. Pradhan himself, then serving as Dean, under a nationwide ordinance in May 2026.
| New Vice-Chancellor | Prof. Dr. Nabees Man Singh Pradhan |
| Selection process | Open competition run jointly across 6 health science academies (Patan, NAMS, Pokhara, Rapti, BPKIHS Dharan, Karnali); 113 total applications, 15 shortlisted for Patan specifically; interviews and presentations completed Asar 16–17, 2083 (June 30–July 1, 2026) |
| Outgoing VC | Prof. Dr. Buddhi Prasad Paudel (appointed August 14, 2025; removed by ordinance, May 2, 2026) |
| Caretaker leadership | Prof. Dr. Samita Pant, appointed Acting Director around Baisakh 24, 2083 (May 7, 2026) |
Background: Who is Nabees Man Singh Pradhan?
Prof. Pradhan is an orthopedic surgeon with more than 23 years of service at Patan Hospital, PAHS's teaching hospital. According to the PAHS records, he pioneered the introduction of Total Elbow Replacement, Knee Arthroplasty, and Total Hip Arthroplasty at Patan Hospital. After completing a fellowship in Shoulder and Sports Medicine, he went on to establish Shoulder Arthroscopy and Shoulder Replacement surgery services there as well.
Beyond clinical work, he was a key contributor to the design and implementation of PAHS's competency-based curriculum, chaired the Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, and chaired the academy's Institutional Review Committee. He served as Chief Editor of the Journal of Patan Academy of Health Sciences until 2024. In 2018, PAHS recognized him with the Grace Humanitarian Award for his work treating patients in the aftermath of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake.
Most immediately before this appointment, Prof. Pradhan was Dean of the School of Medicine at PAHS, a role he took up in January 2026. In other words, unlike several of the newly appointed university Vice-Chancellors covered elsewhere in this series, Prof. Pradhan was already a senior, long-serving member of the institution he now leads both as a clinician at Patan Hospital and, most recently, as its Dean.
Selection process: a joint competition across six health science academies
PAHS's Vice-Chancellor selection did not happen in isolation. It was run alongside five other government health science academies: the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS), Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences, Rapti Academy of Health Sciences, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) in Dharan, and Karnali Academy of Health Sciences under a newly approved "Integrated Procedure for the Selection and Recommendation of Vice-Chancellors of Health Science Academies, 2083."
- Applications were invited around Jestha 4, 2083.
- Across all six academies, 113 applications were received; a shortlist of 86 candidates was published on Asar 2, 2083.
- Patan Academy of Health Sciences specifically drew 15 shortlisted candidates, fewer than NAMS (22, the largest field) but broadly in line with the other academies.
- Interviews and presentations for Patan, NAMS, Pokhara, and BPKIHS candidates were held on Asar 16, 2083 (June 30, 2026), with Karnali and Rapti candidates interviewed the following day.
A Selection and Recommendation Committee evaluated candidates and forwarded a shortlist to the Chancellor, the Prime Minister, in his capacity as Chancellor of the academies, for final appointment.
The predecessor: how the previous leadership left
PAHS's outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Buddhi Prasad Paudel, had assumed office on August 14, 2025, taking over from an earlier VC Prof. Dr Rajesh Nath Gangol, appointed in 2021. Prof. Paudel came to the role from a background as a clinician-academician, having previously served as head of PAHS's Department of Internal Medicine.
His tenure ended under the same wave of ordinances that reshaped Nepal's public universities: on Baisakh 20, 2083, President Ramchandra Paudel on the government's recommendation issued the "Special Arrangement for Removal of Public Office-Holders Ordinance, 2083" alongside a parallel ordinance amending laws governing Health Science Academies. Together, these removed VCs, Rectors, Registrars, Deans, and hospital directors across all six government health science academies nationwide.
At PAHS specifically, the ordinance removed Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Buddhi Prasad Paudel, Rector Dr. Sirjana Shrestha, Registrar Dr. Paras Prasad Acharya, Dean Dr. Nabees Man Singh Pradhan (in his prior role as Dean), and Hospital Director Dr. Ravi Shakya effectively the academy's entire senior leadership team, all at once. The Ministry of Health and Population then assigned Prof. Dr. Samita Pant as Acting Director around Baisakh 24, 2083 to keep the academy running during the open-competition process that has now concluded with Prof. Pradhan's appointment.
