'We'll soon have hospitals without doctors'

How is the skewed ratio between undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats affecting access to healthcare?

India has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Of the 28 million babies born every year, 5-6 million are delivered by Caesarean section. The women need gynaecologists to enable smooth delivery. Today, many women die during childbirth because there aren't enough doctors around to treat them. We need 1.5 lakh gynaecologists but have just 40,000. The US has 5,000 postgraduate seats while India has just 450. There's a shortage of radiologists, who are so crucial for diagnosing any ailment even in cities.

Why this restriction?

We in India believe that if we increase the number of seats, the value or quality will go down. But that's not true. Therefore, we've restricted the number of postgraduate seats and deprived lakhs of MBBS doctors from becoming specialists, which is dangerous for the healthcare system in India. If we don't rectify the ratio now, there will be hospitals without doctors in our Tier 2 cities too.

What's the solution?

The government must tell the Medical Council of India to increase the number of PG seats significantly. When there are thousands of medical graduates who want to pursue specialization and spend years preparing for that coveted PG seat, why are we depriving them and losing them to other countries?

LAST CHANCE TO ATTEND A COUNSELLING THIS YEAR-KERALA

NOTIFICATION 

POST GRADUATE MEDICAL DEGREE / DIPLOMA COURSES, KERALA - 2013

LAST ROUND OF COUNSELLING TO FILL UP THE LEFT OVER STATE QUOTA 

AND SURRENDERED ALL INDIA QUOTA SEATS 

 The last and final round of counseling to fill up the vacant Government Quota seats, 

State Quota seats which became vacant consequent to the fourth round of All India 

Counselling and Surrendered All India Quota seats in P G Medical courses - 2013 under 

Government/Self Financing colleges will be conducted on 29.08.2013 (Thursday) at 

Dr. C O Karunakaran Memorial auditorium near Regional Cancer Centre, Medical College 

campus, Thiruvananthapuram. The counseling will be manual and subject to the conditions 

and stipulations specified in G.O.(Rt) No. 3006/2013/H&FWD dated 26.08.2013. The 

counseling to the General Quota seats will be based on the various merit and category lists 

published by the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations and that to the Service Quota 

seats will be based on the seniority-wise lists of service candidates prepared by the Heads 

of Departments concerned. The allotment to the Health Service Quota seats will be as per 

the modified seniority-wise list prepared by the Director of Health Services in accordance 

with the verdict of the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala dated. 30.07.2013 in WP(C) 

No.13330/2013 and connected cases. 

The service candidates and SC/ST candidates are directed to report to the venue of 

the personal counseling at 9.30 am on 29.08.2013. The General Quota candidates are 

directed to report to the venue of the personal counseling at 11.30 am on 29.08.2013. 

The candidates who have already taken admission under All India Quota and holding 

All India Quota seat at present are not allowed to attend the counseling. 

The candidates coming from the Self Financing Medical Colleges to attend the 

counseling shall produce all their original certificates, NOC and necessary affidavits stating 

that the Self financing Medical College Management is willing to admit candidates allotted 

by the CEE from the Government Merit list in the resultant vacancies. 

The candidates who are allotted a subject in the counseling and do not join the 

course on any reason shall be liable to pay the liquidated damages as per the conditions in 

the prospectus. 

No candidates who have already admitted in Government Medical Colleges are 

allowed to move to another Government Medical College in the same subject 

No transfer from one Self Financing Medical College to another shall be allowed. 

The vacancies created at the time of allotment will be filled up then and there itself 

according to merit and eligibility. 

The candidates who get allotment will be issued with an allotment memo and the 

fee to be paid will be shown in the memo. This amount of fee should be paid in the college 

concerned. 

All details related to the allotment process are available on the website 

www.cee.kerala.gov.in. 

Help Line Numbers: 0471 2339101, 2339102, 2339103, and 2339104

Over 200 medicos participate in ‘Save the doctor’ movement

Seeking equalisation of UG and PG seats in medical courses, more than 200 medicos staged a rally in the city on Monday.

This was part of the nation-wide ‘Save the Doctor’ movement, wherein similar rallies were taken out in different parts of the country in support of their demands.

Students and doctors walked from JK Grounds to Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, and from there to Gandhi Square.

Disparity

The rationale behind the rally, as explained by the organisers, is that India lacked specialist doctors due to inadequate number of PG seats in medical institutions.

It was argued that though India had the highest number of medical institutions, the disparity in the number of seats for UG and PG courses was too high. The participants were also opposed to the rural postings made mandatory and wanted it clubbed with the PG internship.

They expressed fears that if the scenario continued unchanged then India may have to rope in experts from other countries to fill the gap.

As against nearly 50,000 UG seats, there were only 12,000 seats for PG courses for which about 90,000 students compete, said organisers.

The movement is supported by Indian Medical Association and Association of Healthcare Providers.

4 - southern states account for more than 41% of all medical colleges in the country

CHENNAI: The four southern states account for more than 41% of all medical colleges in the country. According to a statement tabled by Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu together have 159 of the country's 387 medical colleges (both government and private).

When it comes to government-run medical colleges, Tamil Nadu tops the list with 21 colleges, which produce 2,715 medical graduates every year. Karnataka has the maximum number of private colleges at 34, followed by Andhra Pradesh (28), Maharashtra (25) and Tamil Nadu (24). Sikkim is the only state which has no government college. It only has one private college, while Goa has only one government college and no private college.

Karnataka produces 6,755 medical graduates every year, the highest in the country, followed by Andhra Pradesh (6,350) and TN (6,215).

"With the maximum number of government medical colleges, Tamil Nadu offers better healthcare to its residents than states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," said Dr Devi Shetty, founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore. "Yet the system of education, which is archaic, needs to be changed," he said.

"The system of medical education in the country is still what it was when I was a medical student 40 years ago. There have been many changes in the way medical students are trained in the west. In order to produce quality doctors, the system should change," said Shetty.

"The country needs more government medical colleges. There are states where there is absolutely no medical care in rural areas and opening more government colleges will reduce the shortage of doctors in rural areas," said Prof A Rajasekaran, former president of National Board of Postgraduate Medical Education, New Delhi.

Karnataka produces the maximum number of postgraduate doctors with 3,286 graduating from its colleges every year. Maharashtra comes second with 3,108 and Tamil Nadu has an intake of 2,392 in PG courses. "Financial assistance has been granted to 72 state government medical colleges under a scheme for strengthening and upgrading state government medical colleges for starting new PG course or increasing PG seats," Azad said in the statement.

In the last three years, the southern states, barring Kerala, have sought an increase in number of undergraduate seats as well as approval for new colleges in both private and public sectors. The three states have got approvals for 37 of their proposals, out of the total 87 granted since 2011 across the country.

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Medical students hold candle march, want more seats for specialists

Medical students hold candle march, want more seats for specialists

JAIPUR: Medical students in state have demanded an increase in seats for specialists and super-specialists in medical education. A candle march by medical students across Rajasthan was organized on Saturday to highlight the issue. The four kilometre candlelight march started at SMS Medical College, Jaipur and ended at Statue Circle Jaipur which was part of the nationwide movement 'Save the Doctor'.

The students took out the march as they claimed that pursuing post graduation in any stream of medicine is essential for a doctor to become a specialist such as gynecologists, neurologist, surgeons and radiologists. They demanded an increase in seats as they anticipate that there will be dearth of specialist doctors and surgeons in India, if the seats are not increased.

However, a medical and health department official said that in Rajasthan the number of seats have increased considerably in medical education over the past five years. He said in 2008 there were 7 medical colleges, which had 750 seats for MBBS, but now the seats have increased to 1,300.

He said that not only MBBS seats increased but even seats for post graduation have increased considerably. In 2008, there were only 450 seats for PG which have also increased to 694.

He added that as far as super-specialty seats are concerned those seats which were only 20 in number earlier had also increased to 87 collectively in all the medical colleges of the state.


The official said that the overall increase in the medical education in the last five years has been huge. A new medical college will soon open in Jaipur and there are also plans to open more medical colleges in the state.

REVIEW -TOI REPORT

MCI seeks review of Supreme Court judgment on NEET

NEW DELHI: The Medical Council of India (MCI), which formulated the single-window admission process through National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, (NEET), on Saturday moved the Supreme Court seeking review of its July 18 verdict quashing the NEET. 

The court had by two to one majority ruled that the MCI did not have the jurisdiction to enforce common entrance test (CET) on private medical colleges and that the move could also violate constitutional guarantee to minority communities to establish and manage their own educational institutions. 

The MCI's review petition — drafted by senior advocate Nidesh Gupta — hit hard at the logic put forth in the majority judgment authored by the then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Altamas Kabir and said it was wrong on many counts such as it ignored the settled principles laid down by constitution benches of the apex court, wrong understanding of the MCI's powers and wrong appreciation of facts relating to medical admissions. 

It said the only reason behind the opposition to NEET by private medical colleges was that the single-window system blocked the thriving practice among them to admit less meritorious students through backdoor for exorbitant donation or capitation fee. 

Referring to the ratio laid down in constitution bench judgments in TMA Pai, Islamic Academy and PA Inamdar cases, the MCI said, "the majority judgment under review suffers from series of error apparent on the face of record. It unsettles the settled legal position that merit as determined in common entrance test is to be the basis for admission for professional education." 

"The emphasis on matters of heart, human sympathies, beliefs and aspirations in preference to marks obtained in common entrance test will ruin medical education and adversely impact quality of professional education in our country," the council said. 


It said the minority judgment had captured the correct legal position and aptly described that NEET regulations as "boon to the student seeking to join medical profession".

Alert

official pdf link -click

The right prescription

RIGHT PRESCRIPTION-INDIAN 

EXPRESS REPORT


Medical students have an ethical obligation to serve the rural community

Last week, medical students took to the streets of Delhi, protesting against the government's order to extend the rural internship from three months to 12 months. The government had passed such an order to fill up the vacancies in the rural health services. Emotions are running high, and doctors and students have launched a "save the doctor" campaign in response. As a doctor who has worked in rural areas for decades, I would like to shed some light on this debate.

Let us review the arguments raised by the striking students and doctors. The first and most frequently voiced objection to this order is that there is no infrastructure in rural areas for doctors to practise. While this was true a few years ago, the National Rural Health Mission has strengthened the infrastructure, equipment and human resources in rural areas. According to 2013 figures, 92 per cent of primary health centres (PHCs) in the country function from a building. There are more than 2,00,000 nurses working in the 1,70,000 PHCs and sub centres. Each PHC medical officer also receives more than Rs 1 lakh every year to improve health services at the PHC.

The next objection is that the one year rural posting will increase the duration of medical education. The period between entering a medical college and getting the licence to practice will increase from five and a half years to six and a quarter years. However, at this stage, it is important to get an international perspective. German and Brazilian medical students require six years to graduate, while their American and Thai counterparts require seven years. South African students can practise only after eight years of training. It is clear from this that the Indian MBBS doctor has a shorter training period than many high- and middle-income countries.

This could be the reason that students say they do not have the expertise to manage patients in rural areas. Here, the students are correct in their analysis. They are trained in tertiary centres for five years and are exposed mostly to complicated cases like cancers and kidney failures. Rarely do medical students get exposed to patients with basic illnesses. Moreover, they are used to technology and being supervised by their seniors. So it is not fair to send them to a facility that does not have either fancy equipment or the staff to guide them. The government is doing an injustice to the poor of our country by sending a partially trained and poorly equipped doctor to the toughest posting, the PHC. My suggestion would be that the students be posted at the community health centres (CHC) or taluk hospitals. There are two benefits to be reaped from this step. First, students would be able to learn and practise medicine under the supervision of more experienced doctors. So they would be able to provide quality care, better than if they were left to cope alone at the PHC. The second benefit would be for the health system. From my experience in Karnataka, I find that most of the specialists at the CHC and the taluk hospital have to provide generalist care. So a paediatrician sees surgical patients and an obstetrician treats medical patients. This is because only specialists are posted at these facilities and there are no generalists. If generalists (MBBS interns) were posted there, they could manage the outpatient clinic and refer the serious cases to the appropriate specialist. This would improve the quality of care at these facilities, while specialist services are effectively and efficiently utilised.

Last but not least, students demand that the rural posting be shifted to after they complete their post-graduate studies. However, as they have stated, about 45,000 MBBS students graduate annually, but only 12,000 get admission into postgraduate courses. So is it fair to excuse the rest from rural service? Considering that the government spends a lot of money to train doctors and that the patients (especially the poor) contribute to this training by permitting medical students to test their skills on them, it is only ethical that students give something back to the community. Moreover, many of the postgraduates will have trained in non-clinical subjects and so will be of no use as medical officers in PHCs. Hence, it is better to place MBBS interns rather than postgraduates at the rural facilities.

Medical students have an ethical obligation to serve the rural community. But they need to be posted at the CHCs and hospitals, so that they can practise and learn under supervision while supplementing the health services.

The writer is director, Institute of Public Health, Bangalore

LINK HERE

TOI REPORT

Centre seeks review of SC order scrapping joint admission for medical colleges

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday sought review of the Supreme Court's controversial judgment junking the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) providing for single-window admission process for all medical colleges and said it had erred by holding that NEET breached the rights of religious and linguistic minorities to self-administer educational institutions. 

Faulting the majority judgment authored by then Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and relying on the powerful dissent delivered by Justice A R Dave, the Centre said ensuring uniform standards for medical education was of paramount interest to the patient and the Medical Council of India-mandated single-window system to draw the merit list was a step in that regard. 

In the petition seeking review of the July 18 judgment delivered on the last working day of the then CJI, the government said it was under duty to ensure that medical education must meet standards of merit. 

The review petition, drafted by additional solicitor general Sidharth Luthra and vetted by solicitor general Mohan Parasaran, made a strong pitch for exclusion of narrow considerations of creed and religious minority when it came to medical education. 

Refusing to couch its request in niceties, found in petitions seeking reconsideration of judgments, the Centre bluntly said, "It is not as if doctors of a linguistic or religious minority will not be treating patients of all creeds, classes and denominations. The interest of the patient is a major consideration in ensuring that inter-se merit is a criteria for entry into medical education and NEET is a reflection of that need." 

The Centre said the Supreme Court had always recognized even in the context of minority rights that merit in the field of medicine was of critical importance. "Right to life (health) requires a need for excellence in medical education," the Centre said and cited numerous constitution bench judgments in support of its stand. 

The government said holding of common entrance test came about as a consequence of the Supreme Court's orders in Simran Jain case, during the hearing of which a decision was taken that MCI would hold a single entrance test since merit in medical education was essential to ensure quality healthcare to citizens. 

It said the guidelines annexed to NEET ensured that the single-window admission system would be in breach neither of the rights of states nor interfere with rights of religious and linguistic minorities.

AMENDMENT IN MCI REGULATIONS ON 1 YEAR RURAL SERVICE BEFORE PG IMPLEMENTED

Rural posting must for doctors seeking PG admission: MCI

The government on Tuesday said that the Medical Council of India (MCI) has amended post graduate medical education regulations to make it mandatory for candidates seeking admission in post graduate courses to have served in rural areas for at least one year.

The Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad admitted to the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a query, that there were reports of instances of misuse of NRHM funds in some states, but said it would not be correct to infer that funds allocated under the scheme are not properly used in rural areas.

Mr. Azad said monitoring mechanisms have already been put in place by the Ministry for adherence to financial procedures and proper financial utilisation of funds under NRHM.

These include submission of quarterly financial monitoring reports by states, annual statutory audits, concurrent audits, visits by teams of financial management group of the ministry to states for periodical financial reviews.

The Ministry had also requested Comptroller & Auditor General to conduct annual transaction audits of National Rural Health Mission in all the states from the financial year 2011-12 in order to identify the existing gaps, facilitate independent monitoring and timely corrective measures so that a quality and timely audit assessment becomes available to assist the state governments in undertaking remedial measures and achieving the targets of NRHM, Mr. Azad said.

He said the implementation of NRHM in states is reviewed through Common Review Missions and periodical reviews by the ministry.

“The deficiencies or shortcomings noticed during the reviews are immediately brought to the notice of the states for remedial action”, Mr. Azad said.

4th ROUND COUNSELLING RESULTS

4th ROUND COUNSELLING RESULTS

4TH ROUND COUNSELLING RESULTS PUBLISHED IN MCC.NIC.IN  .

TO VIEW YOUR RESULTS CLICK HERE

TO KNOW THE RESULTS COMPLETE ALLOTMENT LIST CLICK HERE

ZEE NEWS REPORT

Govt to file review petition on SC order on NEET: Azad

New Delhi: The government has decided to file a review petition against Supreme Court verdict scrapping NEET, a single-window examination for filling MBBS, BDS and post-graduation seats in medical colleges. 

This was stated by Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on the legality of the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Examination. 
"The Government is of the opinion that it would be in the larger interest of the society and students aspiring to study medicine to have NEET. Therefore it has decided to file a review petition against the majority judgement delivered by the Supreme Court on 18.7.2013 in Christian Medical College, Vellore vs Union of India and Others," Azad said. 

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court by a two-to-one majority on July 18 had scrapped holding of NEET and held that Medical Council of India (MCI) is not empowered to prescribe all India medical entrance tests and the MCI notification was in violation of Articles 19, 25, 26, 29 and 30 of the Constitution. 

NEW NOTICE MOHFW

Shortage of Medical Personnel in Rural Areas

The State/UT wise detail of shortfall of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff as per Rural Health Statistics in India, 2012 is placed at Annexure I to VI.

The shortage of doctors in rural areas as per Rural Health Statistics in India, 2012 indicates that doctors are unwilling to work in rural areas. The details of measures taken by the Central Government to encourage doctors to work in rural and remote areas include:

(1)   provision of financial support to state/UTs for providing additional incentives and higher remuneration to doctors to serve in rural areas and improved accommodation arrangements in rural areas, so that they find it attractive to join public health facilities in rural areas.

(2)    amendment of the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000 to provide:-

(i)     50% reservation in Post Graduate Diploma Courses for Medical Officers in the Government service who have served for at least three years in remote and difficult areas; and 

(ii)   incentive at the rate of 10% of the marks obtained for each year in service in remote or difficult areas up to the maximum of 30% of the marks obtained in the entrance test for admissions in Post Graduate Medical Courses

Public health being a state subject, financial support is being provided based on requirement and need projected by the state in the Programme Implementation Plan.
LINK HERE

PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU NEW NOTICE

Legality of Common Medical Admission Test

In Christian Medical College, Vellore vs Union of India &Ors a three-judge bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court by a 2:1 verdict has held that Medical Council of India (MCI) is not empowered to prescribe all India medical entrance tests. The bench said that the MCI notification was in violation of Articles 19, 25, 26, 29 and 30 of the Constitution. Justice A.R. Dave however rendered a dissenting opinion and has said he did not share the view of Chief Justice Kabir and Justice Sen and held that holding of National Eligibility-Cum- Entrance Examination (NEET) is legal, practical and is the need of the society. The Government is of the opinion that it would be in the larger interest of the society and students aspiring to study medicine to have NEET. Therefore it has decided to file a review petition against the majority judgment delivered by the Supreme Court on 18.7.2013 in Christian Medical College, Vellore vs Union of India &Ors. This information was given by Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today. BN/HB (Release ID :98095) LINK HERE

Allot equal PG seats to govt, private medical colleges

Allot equal PG seats to govt, private medical colleges: HC

JABALPUR: A division bench of MP high court has directed the state government to adhere to a 50:50 distribution ratio of post graduate seats in the state-run and private medical colleges. Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Vimla Jain made it mandatory for the director, medical education to follow the directions during counseling for medical PG seats scheduled this month.

Taking a serious view of allegations about private medical colleges auctioning PG seats to moneyed and unworthy for as high as Rs 2 crore, the bench disallowed the state's plea for four weeks time to file its reply, considering the delay could adversely affect young careers. The next hearing in the case will be held on August 26.

The court had admitted the PIL filed by a medical student Dr Shailednra Singh and others on Thursday who expected a post graduate seat strictly according to merit list after the last round of counseling on August 21. The PIL had charged the state medical education authorities with deliberately creating congenial conditions for the private colleges to usurp as many seats from the PG quota as they wished.

The most sought after seats in the streams like radiology, orthopedic surgery and gynecology the petitioner alleged had been hijacked in bulk by these private institutions and the state medical colleges have no access to them. This trend has caught on due to mushrooming private medical colleges across the state- that have no moral compulsions but were commercializing the medical profession.

The counsel for petitioner Aditya Sanghi submitted that in a clever manner to ward off criticism, the authorities has diverted subjects like anesthesia and other non-clinical streams - which apparently have few takers - to the state-owned medical colleges.

Questioning the duplicity and therefore intention of the concerned authorities, the counsel quoted the Supreme Court's judgment in the Modern Dental College and Research Centre, Indore versus state of MP in his favour where Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Deepak Verma had ruled that PG seats had to be divided in three parts. After reserving 15% under the NRI quota, the rest of the 85% seats should be distributed equally between the state and private colleges.


Moreover the distribution, as per the directive will apply to each subject and not to the bulk to beat the insidious game plan which, the petitioner had claimed, had pushed practically all the coveted streams out of the reach of meritorious students so far.

TENTATIVE DATE OF NEXT AIIMS

TENTATIVE DATE OF NEXT AIIMS

THIS POST IS TO INFORM YOU ON TENTATIVE DATE OF NOVEMBER AIIMS.EXACT DATE IS NOT PUBLISHED YET.BUT MOSTLY THE EXAM WILL BE CONDUCTED ON NOVEMBER 10 2013 AS GIVEN IN AIIMS SITE.EXACT DATE OF EXAM WILL BE INFORMED ONCE NOTIFICATION ON THIS IS AVAILABLE.

LINK TO KEY DATES IN AIIMS SITE CLICK HERE

NOTICE IN PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU MOHFW

Under graduate students requested the Government to have a relook at the recent amendment in the PG Medical Education Regulations of MCI 

The under graduate students of four medical colleges of Delhi viz., AIIMS, MAMC, LHMC and UCMS met Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and lodged their protest against the recent amendment in the PG Medical Education Regulations of MCI which makes one year rural posting in a PHC mandatory for becoming eligible to take admission in a PG course. 

The students requested the Government to have a relook at the proposal and demanded that one year rural posting should not be made an eligibility criterion for admission to PG courses. They suggested that such posting should be made voluntary and the respective State Governments should take the responsibility for providing security to doctors posted in rural areas. They also proposed that the PHCs in rural areas should be inspected from time to time by an independent panel of doctors. The student representatives wanted them to be consulted in this matter as it concerns their career prospects. Shri Mishra and Dr. Mehta heard the students and informed them that the amendment in PG medical regulation was in line with the commitment of the Government to improve the availability of doctors in rural and remote areas of the country. Nonetheless they assured the students that the Government would examine their grievances and take necessary action. 


LINK TO NOTICE

Medical College managements bypass ASC directive

It appears that the Kerala Private Medical College Managements Association (KPMCMA) is leaving no stone unturned to get around the Admission Supervisory Committee’s (ASC) directive that admission to privilege/community seats within the management quota should be made only from the rank list prepared by it.

The eight medical colleges under the KPMCMA have already admitted students to the 135 privilege/community seats from ranklists of various entrance examinations, including the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test.However, Justice J M James, who heads the ASC, has categorically said admission of students to privilege seats from lists other than that of the ASC would be invalid. That means the KPMCMA has to cancel the admission given to candidates from the NEET list.

Sources said KPMCMA office-bearers met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Health Minister V S Sivakumar in Thiruvananthapuram the other day, urging to ease the regulations imposed by the James committee for admission to privilege seats. It is reliably learnt that the Chief Minister had enquired about the matter to Justice James over the phone in the presence of KPMCMA office-bearers. KPMCMA secretary V Anilkumar said: “We have completed admission to majority of the privilege seats based on the eligibility of the candidates. As per the KPMCMA’s discretion, we have picked qualified candidates from the NEET list as well.”

Of the 35 per cent management quota seats at colleges under the KPMCMA, admission to 20 per cent seats should be on merit basis, while the remaining 15 per cent seats are considered privilege quota seats. According to the ASC, managements can follow ‘pick and choose’ method, but the candidates should have scored at least 50 per cent marks in the entrance exam conducted by the committee. ASC sources said it would act against the invalid admissions once the process gets completed and the list published by the KPMCMA

Government's decision on doubling medical PG seats might be impractical

Government's decision on doubling

 medical PG seats might be impractical

PANAJI: The state government's submission to the Supreme Court (SC) that it wants to retain both groups of postgraduate students-those selected through the national entrance-cum-eligibility test (NEET) and those admitted via the MBBS merit list-is probably a ploy to silence critics by throwing the ball into the court of the Medical Council of India (MCI).

Sources in the know of admissions at the Goa Medical College say the state's attempt to double the PG seats in such a short time is impractical.

"Getting permission from the MCI to increase seats is a long-drawn process. This move to increase seats is therefore only an attempt to shut up critics," said sources.

Explaining, they said the GMC presently has 85 PG seats, of which 43 are for the all-India quota and the balance for Goa. To accommodate both sets of students, GMC needs at least 31-35 more seats. But to get the increase, a request has to first be made to the union ministry of health and family welfare, which in turn informs MCI.

MCI then sends a team to inspect the institute's infrastructure and to assess if it has the capacity to make the necessary changes to accommodate an increased student-load. The entire procedure, before MCI grants permission, takes about six to nine months, at times even a year. The number of beds and overall patient turnover at the institute is also considered before permission is granted. Moreover, any request to increase seats for an academic year, whether for undergraduate or postgraduate courses, has to be made in advance, stressed sources.

"The government's attempt to admit all PG students is a shabby move to cover its blunder," said a PG student, who believes it is highly improbable that MCI will agree with the state government at this stage. The PG academic year began on June 25.

Another student opined, "If MCI grants the Goa government request as a special case, it will be flooded with similar requests from other medical colleges in the country."

Health minister Laxmikant Parsekar merely said the matter is sub-judice, adding, "The SC will do justice to all."

Things are expected to be clear on August 13, when the matter comes up for hearing in the apex court and the MCI, which has been made a party in the petition, gives its say.

PG students selected via NEET, meanwhile, gave their joining letters on Thursday, but said, they will formally join classes from Saturday. "Friday being a holiday (Eid) we have not attended classes," a student said.

Doctors protest against rural posting

Doctors protest against rural posting

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of doctors from AIIMS, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College in Safdarjung hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Maulana Azad Medical College and University College of Medical Sciences protested at Jantar Mantar on Thursday against the government's decision to make one year rural posting compulsory for medicos applying for post-graduate entrance exams.


"We are willing to serve in rural areas. But this term should be a part of the internship or post-graduate training program. Also, the infrastructure in primary health care centres and security for female doctors have to be upgraded," said Dr Navneet Motreja, who is leading the campaign. 

He added that there are no proper labs to carry out investigations or research and the number of lab attendants or nurses is very less. 

The protesters said that the huge gap in the number of undergraduate and post-graduate medical seats in the country is discouraging young students entering this profession. There are 46,300 undergraduate seats and 22,000 post-graduate seats out of which only 12,000 are in clinical subjects of interest. 

"While the country suffers from acute shortage of specialists and super specialists, lack of post-graduate seats forces thousands of medical graduates to wait for years to get into specialty courses. 

Private colleges charge huge capitation fee for admission in super specialty courses like radiology and orthopedics among others," said IMA secretary Dr Narender Saini. 

He also said that the number of undergraduate and post-graduate medical seats should be equal. 

A delegation of medicos met top health ministry officials and lodged their protest against the recent amendment in the PG medical education regulations of MCI which makes one year rural posting in a PHC mandatory for becoming eligible to take admission in a PG course. 


"We heard the students and informed them that the amendment in PG medical regulation was in line with the commitment made by the the government to improve the availability of doctors in rural and remote areas of the country," a senior health ministry official said.

Why medical students are fighting rural posting

New Delhi: There were hundreds of them, without stethoscopes and with placards that declared "Save the Doctor." Medical students gathered on Thursday at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, the designated spot for protesters, explaining why they are fighting a new rule that needs them to spend a year in a village after they have qualified as doctors.

 

Water cannons were used to stop the students, most of them in their early 20s, from marching to the office of Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

 

In May this year, the government said that after getting their MBBS degree and before they start work as doctors, all students from private and government colleges have to spend a year at a rural posting. The rule is meant to apply next year and will affect nearly 40,000 students.

 

Without proof that they have completed this one-year internship, doctors cannot apply for the entrance test for a post-graduate course for specialisation.

 

The government says that it wants to improve services under the National Rural Health Mission and has, therefore, increased the three-month internship period to one year after they complete their MBBS.

 

medical_rally295x200.jpgBut students say that their five-and-half-year MBBS course does not give them the expertise to handle emergencies in rural areas with poor infrastructure. Many say that the constraint of resources makes it impossible to help patients improve. They also point to an alarming number of attacks on doctors by frustrated relatives in government hospitals where there is little security.

 

Students want the rural posting to be voluntary and a part of their post-graduate course.

"We already spend about 8.5 years studying to be a doctor. Many have to miss a couple of years studying to get into a good post-graduate course. Why not include this one year as a part of the PG program instead of us having to spend an additional year on the internship?" asked Karandeep Singh, who was among Thursday's protesters.

For now, the Health Ministry has assured the medical students that their concerns will be considered, without giving a time frame.

LINK TO NDTV REPORT CLICK HERE

 

Medical students protest in Delhi

The Delhi Police had to use water canons on Thursday to prevent hundreds of agitating medical students from marching to Nirman Bhawan, where the Union Health Ministry is located .

The medical students, who had the support of Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Delhi Medical Association, had gathered for a protest march at Jantar Mantar as part of their campaign ‘Save the Doctor'.

The agitating doctors demanded that the Union Health Ministry equalise Under Graduation (UG) and Post Graduation (PG) medical seats and include rural posting as part of internship and postgraduate training. Over two to three lakh medical students are supporting this movement across the country .

A delegation of the agitating students was later allowed to meet the Health Ministry officials, who, sources said, have agreed to look into their demands.

In a directive to the Medical Council of India last year, the Union Health Ministry had asked for extending the three-month rural posting to one year and include it in the MBBS curriculum.

The agitating medical students, however, claim that rural posting “is unfair on them and is a waste in the absence of proper infrastructure at the primary health centres.’’

Save the Doctor campaign co-ordinator Dr. Navneet Motreja said: “India currently lacks specialist doctors due to less number of clinical PG seats in medical institutions. Though India has the largest number of medical institutions, the disparity in the number of seats allotted for PG and UG students along with the mandatory rural posting are affecting young doctors and they end up spending 13 years merely studying.’’

He added that there are 45,600 UG seats which are likely to reach 50,000 shortly due to the progressive steps taken by the MCI. Whereas, there are only 12,000 PG seats which most of the doctors prefer to choose.

“With a pass rate of 80-90 per cent nearly 40,000 doctors graduate every year and compete for 12,000 seats with their batch mates and over a lakh seniors. In the last PG entrance exam under NEET, over 110,000 doctors appeared for the test to claim one of the 12,000 seats. Adding to this, the one year compulsory rural posting has worsened the situation,’’ said Dr. Motreja.

Extending his support to the medical graduates, IMA secretary general Dr. Narendra Saini, said: “We support rural posting but in the present situation making it compulsory is not feasible because there is no structured posting in rural areas. Every PG student must do six months of rural posting as part of their course/ internship.”

He also added that every medical officer during their tenure is entitled for at least 4-5 promotions. For every promotion, one year rural posting can be made mandatory.

REPORT IN HINDU LINK HERE

NEW NOTICES IN MCC

NEW NOTICES IN MCC

                          NOTICE 1
For Fresh Choice filling for Round – 4 Of All India Quota PG Counseling 2013
Eligible candidates who desire to participate in Round-4 of All India Quota PG Counseling 2013 are required to fill up fresh
choice(s) from the available seats shown. Please be careful in
exercising choice and fill up only those choice(s) which you think
is higher choice than that which you already have/ you will join. Once any seat is allotted then the seat which you already have (if applicable) will automatically be cancelled and allotted to other candidate (strictly in order of merit without rank violation). Please fill up fresh choice(s) only if you are genuinely
interested in joining against allotted All India Quota seat.

Posted on 08.8.2013
                           NOTICE 2
Information about withdrawal of some PG Seats from
Round-4 of All India Quota PG Counseling 2013
1. The Dean, Government Medical College, Theni, Tamil Nadu (TN) dated 02.08.13 has informed that Two(02) seats of DGO , contributed for All India Quota(AIQ) PG -2013 were wrongly
conveyed as there is NO DGO course / seat available in this college. Therefore, as per the request received from Govt. Medical College, Theni, Tamil Nadu, these Two seats of DGO are withdrawn from vacancy available for Round-4 of All India Quota PG Counseling 2013. 2. The Dean, Medical College, Baroda vide letter dated 30.07.13 has informed that earlier they contributed one seat of MD(DVL) and one seat as MD(Skin VD), whereas it should be one seat of MD(Skin VD) only for All India Quota PG 2013, as there are only
two (02) seats available as MD(Skin VD), out of which one seat is
for All India Quota. In view of the aforesaid position, one seat of MD (DVL) is withdrawn from vacancy available for Round-4 of All India Quota PG Counseling 2013. Posted on 07.08.2013

*********
               

Equalise UG and PG medical seats

MUMBAI: Over 3000 medical students with the support of Indian Medical Association and Delhi Medical Association gathered at JantarMantar in New Delhi on Thursday. The movement by medical students called 'Save the Doctor' is a submission to the Union health ministry to equalize Under Graduation (UG) and Post Graduation (PG) medical seats and to include rural posting to be part of internship and postgraduate training. Nearly two to three lakh medical students are expected to support this movement across India.

Pursuing a Post Graduation in any stream of medicine is essential for a doctor to become a specialist such as Gynecologist, Neurologist, Surgeon, Radiologist etc. Today, India lacks specialist doctors due to less number of clinical PG seats in medical institutions. Though India has the largest number of medical institutions, the disparity in the number of seats allotted for PG and UG students along with the mandatory rural posting are affecting young doctors and they end up spending 13 years merely studying. This also means that the future of our healthcare system is at huge risk, if things continue to remain the way it is. As senior specialist doctors/ surgeons retire in the future, a dearth of specialist doctors and surgeons looms large in the country.

Dr. Navneet Motreja, Coordinator, Campaign - 'Save the Doctor', said, "If the situation does not change, we are not far from desperate measures like importing surgeons from other countries. Recently, due to a public pressure the Brazilian PM agreed to import 6,000 specialist doctors from Cuba."

There are 45,600 UG seats which is likely to reach 50,000 shortly due to the progressive steps taken by the MCI. Whereas, there are only 12,000 PG seats which most of the doctors prefer to choose. In comparison, in a developed country such as USA, there are 19,000 UG seats and 32,000 PG and fellowship seats. With a pass rate of 80% to 90%, nearly 40,000 doctors graduate every year and compete for 12,000 seats with their batch mates and over a lakh seniors. In the last PG entrance exam under NEET, over 110,000 doctors appeared for the test to claim one of the 12,000 seats. Adding to this, the one year compulsory rural posting has worsened the situation.

Dr. Narendra Saini, Secretary General, IMA, said, "Indian Medical Association supports rural posting. But, in the present situation making it compulsory is not feasible because there is no structured posting in rural areas. Every PG student must do six months of rural posting as part of their course/ internship." He also added, "Every medical officer during their tenure is entitled for atleast 4-5 promotions. For every promotion, one year rural posting can be made mandatory."

To validate this, the World Health Statistics has pointed out that India has 0.9 beds for 1000 population, which is way below the global average beds of 2.9 beds.

A grave example of the state of Indian healthcare is that lakhs of young pregnant women who die during delivery is a testimony to show how lack of PG seats is taking away precious lives. There are 28 million babies born every year in India, which means at least 28 million deliveries need to be handled annually. To perform this number the country requires that many gynecologists, unfortunately we have only 40,000 practicing gynecologists and most of them are practicing mainly in cities. Our government is spending lakhs of rupees to reduce Maternity Mortality Rate without great success. What people and policy makers fail to realize is that it's not due to the lack of money that young pregnant women are dying, but because the country does not have enough qualified gynecologists and neonatologists to take care of the mother and baby

'Save the Doctor' movement held Thursday

'Save the Doctor' movement held Thursday

New Delhi: Medical students under the aegis of the Indian Medical Association and the Association of Healthcare Providers India organised a "Save the Doctor" campaign Thursday. 

The movement is being held nationwide and is aimed at urging policy makers in the country to have equal number of undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats and to address the issue of fewer specialist doctors. 

"There are 12,000 PG seats against 40,000 UG seats in India compared to 32,000 PG seats against 19,000 UG seats in the US. This is the main reason behind brain drain. Many MBBS graduates cannot fulfil their dream of a career in the medical field as it is difficult to obtain a post-graduate seat," said "Save the Doctor" campaign coordinator Navneet Motreja. 

The campaign also aims to make authorities include rural posting in internship and postgraduate training. 

"IMA supports rural posting. But in the present situation, making it compulsory is not feasible because there is no structured posting in rural areas," said IMA Secretary Narendra Saini. 

"According to a Right to Information which we filed, only 2,866 vacancies are there in rural areas but we are producing 40,000 doctors. The rest will be waiting for their rural posting and stuck with nowhere to go as they are not eligible to take up their PG entrance exams too," added Saini. 


Around two-three lakh students have created an association to fight the issue and are circulating an online appeal, to be sent to the union health minister. 

Medical students to take National exam: Central govt

Bengaluru: The Union Govern­ment has come up with a new scheme to regulate medical admissions in the country. The exit exam, as it is called, has received unanimous approval from the Medical Council of India (MCI).

This follows the centre’s defeat in the Supreme Court, over the implementation of the NEET. All students who complete their MBBS must appear for the exit exam at the end of their study, to be allowed to move on to higher studies and also begin their medical practices.

Sources at the union health ministry say the proposed exit exam will be the part of series of reforms proposed to improve the quality of medical education in the country. The all-India exam will be online. "A team of experts have already submitted the report and it may be implemented as soon as this academic year, as a government notification will suffice," said an officer.

"MCI has already extended its support and a  final decision will be taken at the earliest. This new exam will prevent non-eligible candidates from Post Graduate studies and from taking up a practice which will have direct affect on the health of the common man,” he said.

A senior officer said the exit exam was first proposed in 2009, soon after UPA II started functioning. "It was part of overall reforms proposed by the union government. As we could not implement NEET, this new exist exam will definitely improve the system. It will discourage non-merit students from doing the course by paying crores and clean up the PG admission process," he added.

“All medical universities in the country are facing allegations of corruption. A national level exit exam is a clear solution and we hope for the scheme to be implemented at the earliest,” said an officer from the State’s health department.