Medical Education: Doctors- Victims of Grave Injustice Expected to Impart Justice to all

        Non-uniformity of medical education is treating  medical students  as  slaves and  killing enthusiasm of young doctors.

    Medical profession is an extremely strenuous and highly specialised field that requires individuals to dedicate their lives in the service of others. As part of medical professionals’ education and training, they are necessitated to undertake training across various settings. In this context, a stipend is paid as a matter of right and not charity. It is therefore essential that parity and equity be maintained across all medical institutions, whether run by private bodies or by the government.    In absence of proper Governance and rules, the young doctors are thrown at the mercy of cruel businessman for proper pay and working conditions.

Ensure uniform stipend to Interns: Binoy Viswam, Rajya Sabha MP

Great disparity in stipend at Govt. Private Colleges

     Medical education is one field where  one can notice the  extreme  variations of the unimaginable magnitude that are beyond comfort.  

      Falling standards  of medical education is the most important  side effect  which  should be an  important issue, but sadly it is the last  priority  on the list of administrators. Each and every medical college can be different and student passing out of many colleges receive below average medical education.

     Another important  variation is in the stipend and remuneration of  young  trainee doctors receive. It varies from college to college, city to city, state to state as well as North to  South and East to West. Besides being a cause for heartburn. it is a cause for  extreme  dissatisfaction among medical students.

      Needless to say the arbitrariness exercised  by various authorities to pay  them at their will is a reflection of grave injustice imposed by administrators.

    Another arbitrariness reflecting injustice is variation in fee of medical colleges. The steep fee charged by private medical colleges and restrictive bonds of Government  medical colleges in name of expensive medical seats need a sincere and honest introspection by authorities. The basis for calculations of the cost of medical education should be transparent and shown in public domain.

     Needless to say that medical students have been sufferers  of poor and arbitrariness of inept  administrative policies. Just because they decided to be doctors, they have to endure poor,  unjust  and arbitrary policies.

     Ironically as a child decides to be a  doctor, he is exploited in name of such policies of  unreasonable  high fee, poor education and low pay. That too while working in  extremely inhuman   conditions,  long and hard working hours. Strangely these medical students  suffer grave injustice  inflicted by the society  since  start of their medical education, but when they become doctors, everyone  expects sympathy, empathy and honesty.

    In absence of proper Governance and rules, the young doctors are thrown at the mercy of cruel businessman.

      Still the sufferers of grave  injustice themselves  are expected to impart justice to everyone  along with  burden  of mistrust.

Ensure uniform stipend to Interns: Great disparity in stipend at Govt. Private Colleges

Binoy Viswam, Rajya Sabha MP, has urged Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to ensure equity in payment of internship to medical students in private and government medical colleges across the country.In a letter to the Minister, Mr. Viswam said that the National Medical Commission’s Draft Regulations on Compulsory Rotating Internship, 2021, issued on April 21 and gazetted on November 18, had said that all interns shall be paid stipend “as fixed by the appropriate fee fixation authority as applicable to the institution/university/State.”

Ambiguity

“The phrasing of this provision allowed for great ambiguity and arbitrariness. It may also result in management of private colleges denying stipend to the interns as they have complete discretion without any safeguarding mechanism. The ramifications of the same are already being seen in colleges across the country as great variance exists in stipend amounts being paid in government colleges as opposed to private colleges,” he pointed out.

A right, not charity

Mr. Viswam said that medical profession was an extremely strenuous and highly specialised field that required individuals to dedicate their lives in the service of others. “As part of medical professionals’ education and training, they are necessitated to undertake internships across various settings. In this context, a stipend is paid as a matter of right and not charity. It is therefore essential that parity and equity be maintained across all medical institutions, whether run by private bodies or by the government,” he said.

The MP requested the Minister to consult with all stakeholders, including State governments, medical college managements, medical professionals, and students to formulate a policy that ensures equity among medical students. A uniform stipend to all interns would ensure that, he added.

The erstwhile Medical Council of India had come up with a public notice on January 25, 2019, on Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 1997. The Board of Governors that superseded the MCI was considering a provision that said “All the candidates pursuing compulsory rotating internship at the institution from which MBBS course was completed, shall be paid stipend on par with the stipend being paid to the interns of the State government medical institution/Central government medical institution in the State/Union Territory where the institution is located.” However, it was not gazetted until the Board was dissolved.

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