By Shoaib Khan:
March 24, 2018: The United Resident Doctors Association (URDA), India, in collaboration with the Indian Medical Association (IMA), had organised the first ever Chhatra Sansad (Student Council) at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium to protest against the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill. The first-of-its-kind student parliament saw the participation of doctors from all over the country.
The doctors have been protesting ever since this bill was proposed. Certain provisions of the bill have not been welcomed by members of the medical fraternity. According to the bill, alternative medicine professionals can practice allopathy after pursuing a ‘bridge course’ of six months. “How can a six-month course be equivalent to five-and-a-half-years of MBBS?” said Dr Ankit Om, Chairman, URDA India.
“There is also an issue with the provision of NEXT (the National Exit Test) exam,” which makes it compulsory for all the doctors to appear for an exam at the end, after completing MBBS, to get a license for medical practice. “This clearly means that the government doubts its own education structure,” he further added.
“The government says that the ‘bridge course’ provision would help to solve the problem of the patient-doctor ratio. This is simply a myth. This demeans practices such as ayush and ayurveda. It is an insult to such systems,” said Dr Manu Gautam, President, URDA India.
Dr Gautum highlighted how the provision of the exit exam distracts the students from concentrating on their internships in the last year, which he said, is far more important in terms of practical experience. He expressed his concern on the appointment of a centralised committee for sanctioning funds where the majority will not be doctors.
The doctor further pointed out the fear of getting assigned to rural areas, where the major cause of violence against doctors is the lack of infrastructure, which also influences the way a doctor deals with the patients.
Dr Hari said that the government expenditure in the health sector is a cause of major worry, and then there is the problem of the number of vacancies – and so, the hiring is done on an ad hoc basis. This attracts them towards the private sector, so the investment at large should be increased.
Considering the current scenario of the health sector, the authorities need to carefully deal with the current situation, keeping the welfare of the public in mind.