Govt medical college to come up at Jalgaon, experts raise staff issue
Jalgaon district is all set to get a medical college. The Medical Council of India (MCI) has conducted its inspection and other formalities will be completed soon to set up the college at a cost of Rs 400 crore. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has announced that the government plans to open 24 new medical colleges and hospitals in the next one year by upgrading existing hospitals in each district. While the aim is to improve the quality of medical education and healthcare, the move will also ensure there is one medical college for every three parliamentary constituencies.
While the state has 16 government-run medical colleges, a need has been felt to set up such colleges in the Khandesh region (Dhule, Jalgaon, Nandurbar and other districts in the northwest parts of the state) and in Sindhudurg district. When contacted, Dr Pravin Shingare, Director of Medical Education and Research (DMER), Maharashtra, told The Indian Express there were six government medical colleges in Vidarbha region and four each in Marathwada and western Maharashtra regions. Pune division has four government medical colleges — one in Pune city, the rest in Solapur, Sangli and Kolhapur.
Shingare admitted there was a need for a medical college in Sindhudurg district. “But one of the mandatory requirements is that at least a 300-bed district hospital should be functioning for a minimum three years to set up a government medical college in the area. Kudal tehsil in the district doesn’t have a 300-bed hospital,” Shingare said.
While efforts are under way to set up a hospital here, DMER authorities have decided to set up the medical college at Jalgaon district. There are 50 medical colleges in the state, of which 16 are government-run. Up to 7,000 students pass out of these colleges every year; 2,200 from the government medical colleges. While the latest move is welcome considering the disparity in the number of students who aspire for admission in medical colleges and seats available, experts highlighted the need for ensuring adequate staff at the new colleges.
Dr P M Bulakh, former Deputy Dean, B J Government Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital, said it had been observed that students opt mainly for specialisation in clinical subjects like medicine and surgery and show less preference for pre-clinical subjects like anatomy, physiology, bio-chemistry and pathology. “Some colleges are finding it difficult to get staff in these disciplines and one of the reasons perhaps is the postgraduate residency system introduced 20 years ago,” Dr Bulakh said.
For instance, if a student has passed MBBS he/she can join the department as an assistant lecturer and, after three years of postgraduation, can be upgraded as lecturer, he explained. Dr Vilas Jahagirdar, former Dean at Miraj Medical College and founder Dean at Akola Medical College, said the government must take steps for faculty development right from the time the student completes internship to the time he/she is a postgraduate. Lucrative financial incentives should be made available so that the student can also opt for a teaching career, Dr Jahagirdar said.
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