Friends, Indians, Countrymen
I am here to bury the new MBBS doctors and not to praise them.
But before I do that, please do hear me out…
The Indian government wants to make it compulsory for the freshly graduated MBBS doctors to serve 6 months in a rural posting, in order to be eligible to sit for Post- Graduate exams. Noble thought indeed, but is it well thought through.
Well first and foremost, it will create a huge market for fake certification of rural posting, which some very innovative (Jugadu) graduates will resort to, in lieu of actually serving in that area. Such schemes always breed corruption as we have seen in the past.
Second, why do people think that doctors have to forego all in service of humanity? Why not ask the other graduates like Engineers to serve in rural areas as well? Maybe in order to be eligible to write CAT, GMAT or GRE ?
Don’t tell me that rural India does not need any engineers and architects to build its roads, schools, colleges, hospitals and dams. please don’t tell me they don’t need electrical engineers to lay power lines to light up the villages and mechanical engineers to set up industry.
Just asking the MBBS doctors to do this is being partial to a profession that has lost the brightest to the IT industry and the lure of western civilization.
Thirdly 80 % of the healthcare infrastructure is in the cities. What are these fresh graduates going to do when they don’t have the basic diagnostic equipment?
And finally with all senior doctors serving as specialists in the cities, these young doctors will do more damage than good, without proper guidance…
As usual I would like to hear from you and all comments are welcome..
It is an interesting perspective you bring out. Something that the rest of us dont think of. Should medical graduates refuse rural postings? Probably not because at the end of the day being a doctor is a vocation not a “profession”. Morally, you cant say you wont treat patients just because the live in shabby surroundings with little or no facilities to diagnose illness. Just like a good teacher should not refuse students because she doesnt have facilities to teach. But when the effectiveness of your work gets impacted due to poor infrastructure, then there is a case that one needs to consider. The government, I believe hasnt looked at this angle, just like they havent looked at issues holistically in other cases (like the Right to Education).
I think it will be best if the medical association (or which ever statutory body that overseas medical education) requests the government to provide some basic infra like a proper room for patients, basic diagnostic equipment, accommodation and personal safety for doctors. Failing which, it will be a matter of time before doctors too leave India to pursue post graduation overseas, never to return.
Thank you Arch, I agree and people should not refuse patients on any count. Basic infrastructure would do a world of good in these cases and I would be very happy to discuss this with the right authorities.
I APPRECIATE YOUR ARTICLE POINTS. ITS WORTH. BUT, IF U COMPARE YOURSELF MEDICAL PROFESSION WITH ENGINEERING AND OTHER COURSES, THEY WILL BE ONLY FOR SOME RESPECTIVE TIME ONLY, ROAD CONSTRUCTION OVER, ENGINEERS MOVE ON. IF YOU WANT TO ENJOY TIER 1 LIFE, YOU BETTER STAY THERE, BUT DONT EVER SPREAD WRONG MESSAGE TO ALL THOSE WHO TOOK REAL HIPPOCRATIC OATH.
SOLDIERS NEVER COMPLAIN ABOUT THERE JOB. SO LOVE YOUR JOB AND SAVE YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS. WE ALL ARE BORN FOR SERVING MANKIND IN ANY WAYS. LOVE YOUR PROFESSION PEOPLE REGARD THIS PROFESSION NEXT TO GOD. DONT BE ESCAPE GOAT BE BRAVE AND FACE IT.
Hello Vicky
Thank you for taking time out to comment on the post. Now I feel after reading and re-reading the comment that you have not understood the post at all. The post was not about abandoning patients. It was about the fall out of sending in young MBBS/BDS doctors to rural outposts. And these are my reasons
1) Semi equipped and inexperienced doctors might create a situation where mis- diagnosis and medical errors would run rampant. India recorded 5.2 medical injuries due to medical errors in 2013 and the numbers would spike, if such young doctors are put in rural postings.
2) It would lead to corruption as stated in the post as more of these doctors might be encouraged to get false certificates
3) It would put the careers of these young doctors in jeopardy as they would not be able to understand the implications of their actions and might get further disillusioned with the system
4) When all the medical diagnostic equipment is lying in the cities what is the point of sending only the doctors without the infrastructure.
On this points, as you mentioned soldiers, let me give you 2 examples
1) In 1962 we faced China without the right equipment and armament. The results were disastrous. China still occupies parts of Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh. The Indian army suffered the following casualties: 1,383 killed, 1,047 wounded, 1,696 missing, 3,968 jawans captured.
2) A soldier needs a Command, Control,Communications backed by Infrastructure system in order to do his job effectively. You can’t just ask a young soldier to go to the front without experience, officers and the right equipment
Hope these examples help you.
I am curious about your background. Are you a doctor ? Then can I ask where you did your MBBS/BDS and where have you done your rural posting ?
Also I see you are using “All Caps” in your comment, which means you are either angry or shouting and both are not warranted. We are still a civil society.
Also your grammar is appalling, so it might help for you to read Wren and Martin high school grammar, the book is an excellent read. Finally I sent you an email on vicky@gmail.com and it bounced back so it was a fake id and Health.com does not know any Vicky in India, writing for them, are you afraid of giving your true identity ?
Interesting considering you talk about soldiers 🙂 Good luck with your anger and other issues and keep reading the blog post.