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Medical education a business today: Anbumani

Special Correspondent

Union Minister warns of severe action against institutions involved in "selling" postgraduate seats

CONVOCATION: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil (second from right), giving away the S.K.Sama gold medal to Prachi Patil (extreme left), in Chennai on Saturday. Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss (extreme right) and A. Rajasekaran, president, Na tional Board of Examinations (second from left), are in the picture. — Photo: S. R. Raghunathan

CHENNAI: The Health Ministry would take severe action against medical institutions "selling" postgraduate seats for exorbitant sums, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said on Saturday.

It was unfortunate that medical education had become a business, Dr. Anbumani said. It was disheartening for the government to receive reports of several medical colleges charging exorbitant amounts for postgraduate seats. For instance, complaints had come in that some colleges in Chennai were charging as much as Rs.1 crore for a postgraduate Radiology seat. The Minister warned that action would be taken against colleges that did not discontinue the practice immediately. Delivering the convocation address at the 13th Convocation of the National Board of Examinations, Dr. Anbumani expressed concern about medical education and health care delivery. The primary concern was rural health care, he said, adding that a big drawback in the speedy implementation of the National Rural Health Mission was manpower shortage. While the nation could boast of a large and competent specialist manpower, nearly 70 per cent of the population had very poor access to health care. Nearly 40 per cent had poor access to even basic health care. The objective of the postgraduate medical education was to develop medical specialists for the health care delivery systems. But the fact was that most graduates and postgraduates went abroad or preferred to serve only in urban areas.

The report of the National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health pointed to the huge deficit of specialists in the community health centres of the country.

According to the report, out of the current turnout of specialists every year, 10 per cent migrate to other countries, 30 per cent opt for the private sector, leaving 60 per cent to serve in the public sector. Even this group is concentrated in urban hospitals. There is a shortfall of 62 per cent in the number of sanctioned posts of specialists for community health centres.

The NBE's move to introduce Diplomate of National Board courses in Rural Surgery and Family Medicine was a bold step in trying to remedy the situation, he said. Congratulating the Board, he said the Rural Surgery course would equip a surgeon for surgical requirements in rural areas, where nearly 25 per cent of all deaths were due to obstetric causes and injuries.

Union Minister for Home Affairs Shivraj Patil distributed awards to gold medallists in various disciplines. He advised the NBE to seriously consider introducing courses to build capacity in disaster management, especially for doctors in rural areas. While acknowledging the contributions of the medical community towards the "remarkable progress" of the health sector in the country and the huge investment in health care, he also said there were imbalances.

While people in urban centres had access to the best health care and infrastructure, the same was not the case in the primary health centres and sub centres , he said. Mr. Patil added that more doctors would have to be trained in family medicine and rural surgery.

NBE President A. Rajasekaran said the government was actively considering the creation of a single body such as the American Board or the PG Medical Board in the U.K. as against the existing dual streams of PG medical qualifications.

He later awarded degrees to successful candidates.

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