BSc Graduates To Work As Doctors?
Rural Indian healthcare needs a lot of improvements and severely suffers from lack of qualified healthcare professionals. On 4th September, Honorable Delhi High Court has directed Central Government and Medical Council of India (MCI) to permit B.Sc. (community Health) graduates to practice healthcare in rural India.
With all due respect to the Delhi High Court, I would like to discuss a few points regarding this decision. Being a law abiding responsible citizen of India, I am not trying to show any kind of disrespect whatsoever to the Honorable Delhi High Court or any legal institutions.
Here is the excerpt from the news piece –
“In the opinion of this court, once the Central government has undertaken to introduce the B.Sc. (Community Health) course, it must take the lead and give the course a firm legal footing and introduce it in institutions and universities run by the Central government and also provide help to the state governments to introduce the same. Also, once the syllabus, curriculum and course have been finalized and the graduate has been identified to treat a range of common diseases that are easily treatable at the primary level, there is no reason why he/she should not be allowed to practice independently,” the HC observed.
B.SC. Community health course:
As per the news articles published here , till 2013, curriculum related to Community Health course was not decided.
Delhi High Court directive of this month indicates that the proposed 3.5 years course design has not been finalized as yet.
In 2014, Doctors, Pharmacists and even nursing students expressed their concern against such a course. (News). Nursing students fear that their dwindling job prospects will further deteriorate with this course.
B.Sc. Nursing student studies for 4 years to earn this degree to become a nurse.
B. Pharma student studies for 4 years to earn this degree to become a pharmacist.
But this community course will produce a rural healthcare expert (=doctor) who can prescribe medicines and do treatments in rural India by studying for 3.5 years.
Most logical solution:
There is no point in forcing MBBS doctors to practice in rural India. But why not take doctors from AYUSH segment – Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy doctors, train them for six months and issue licenses to them to practice in rural India?
In Ayurveda syllabus, we study anatomy, physiology, pathology and herb – pharmacology.
We dissect human bodies to learn anatomy and physiology.
Learning about allopathic pharmacology is also included in B.A.M.S Syllabus.
We are verse with minor surgical procedures.
We invest 5.5 years to become doctors. Practising of Allopathy by Ayurvedic doctors is already legal in a few states like Maharashtra. Hence, why not make a bridge course of 6 months to orient aspirant AYUSH doctors with modern pharmacology and a list of Allopathic medicines and give them rights to practice in Rural India?
I suppose this makes much more sense than re-inventing the wheel with a 3.5 year B.SC. course to produce quick fix doctors.
I apologies wholeheartedly and unconditionally for any disrespect to the honorable court that might have been caused with this article.
9 comments on “BSc Graduates To Work As Doctors?”
k l murthy
Dr JVH, good idea. But even AYUSH doctors may also refuse going to rural places as they cannot be assured of any fixed income.
I seriously doubt, even those BSc grads will settle in Rural areas as now they are ” Permitted” to treat.
Raje
Dear Sir
Write up is very nice and logically perfect.
hybrid doctors will not be useful for society due to their less knowledge due to less course duration. Please forward your this article to MCI.
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Thanks.
There is no point in reaching out to MCI. The option of AYUSH doctors was / is always there at MCI’s disposal. They are very well aware of it.
When the argument was going on, in the High court, they could have easily suggested this alternative.
krishnan nair
This is a very useful and innovative proposal of the learned judiciary and it should be followed.
seema VermaRao
Govt can give order to all the MBBS, BAMS and MHMS gratuates that they should go to the rural areas at least for 3 yrs then only come to urban areas for jobs.
seema VermaRao
Number of govt medical college should increase and then we can get good Doctors who can go to rural areas for more than 3 yrs also.
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Good suggestion.
channa
It good course for nurses to improve their skills and it helps to provide optimum health care to the community people.