The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Subsidised education `has not produced enough doctors'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 13, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Subsidised education `has not produced enough doctors'

Staff Reporter

Give back a bit of what you have taken from society, students told

There are not enough doctors even in cities
State has only 1600 anaesthetists for a population of 6.5 crores
"More diploma courses should be started," says Health Secretary

Medical colleges in Vellore, Theni, Kanyakumari and Tuticorin to be improved

CHENNAI: Subsidised education in government medical colleges has not generated sufficient doctors, said Government officials.

While there is a pronounced dearth of doctors in rural areas, there are not enough medical practitioners even in cities, they said.

Health Minister N. Thalavai Sundaram, who inaugurated a conference of anaesthetists here on Sunday, said: "We need one anaesthetist for every 10,000 people. Currently the State has one anaesthetist for every 50,000 people."

The State has 1,600 anaesthetists for a population of 6.5 crores. Of this, only 445 are in Government service and 500 are in Chennai.

Mr. Sundaram appealed to deans of medical colleges and the Director of Medical Education to improve the medical education system. While the Chief Minister had allotted Rs. 182 crores for improvement of colleges in Vellore, Theni, Kanyakumari and Tuticorin, more than Rs. 100 crores were earmarked for education. More seats will be available at colleges in Theni and Vellore after the Medical Council of India finished inspection, he said.

The conference was held as part of the continuing medical education programme of the anaesthesiology department of Madras Medical College (MMC). It was jointly organised by MMC's anesthesiology department and the Anaesthesia CME Society.

Mr. Sundaram said the lack of teachers made it difficult to increase the number of seats. So far, the Government had recruited students who had an M.D. degree, but now diploma holders were also being considered. Students pay only Rs. 50,000 for their entire education in a State-run medical college.

Health Secretary Sheela Rani Chunkath, who inaugurated the workshop, appealed to students of Government colleges to "give back a bit of what they had taken from society." The money for medical education had come from "the taxes paid by the man on the street." She urged doctors in private hospitals to give "a part of your time in rural areas."

"We need to increase seats by starting more diploma courses." About 85 per cent anaesthetists in private hospitals were located in Chennai, though the ratio in the Government sector was a little better at 50 per cent. Ms. Chunkath urged doctors in private hospitals to "do some elective surgeries in rural areas."

Vice-Chancellor of Madras University S.P. Thyagarajan called for a periodical auditing system to document all events. Dr. Thyagarajan released the department's souvenir, the first copy of which was received by the Health Minister.

MMC Dean Kalavathi Ponniraivan sought one-year post-graduate courses in Madras and Madurai Medical College on the lines of those in CMC Vellore and AIIMS, Delhi.

Director of Medical Education P. Vijayalakshmi appealed to doctors to be punctual and start surgeries by 8 a.m., to prevent backlog at the end of the day. "We can start Diplomate National Board courses when we have enough qualified PG teachers," she said. G. Sivarajan, HOD, anaesthesia department, said the programme included a speech contest for students.

Senior anaesthetists M. Vijai Kumar, I. Seetharama Naidu, Ian Sundararajan and C.T. Santhanalakshmi were honoured.

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