Maharashtra: PG medical students on Covid duty urge MCI to cancel final-year exams

Maharashtra has more than 3,000 post-graduate medical students. (Representational)

More than 900 final-year post-graduate medical students from at least 15 medical colleges across Maharashtra have written to the Medical Council of India (MCI), the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) and Governor B S Koshyari demanding cancellation of the pending summer exams.

Engaged as frontline workers in the Covid-19 duty at respective hospitals, students have said that the announcement of exams at a time when the number of patients and duty hours were increasing had created an environment of “restlessness, anxiety and fear” among them.

In the letter to the MCI and state authorities, students have said: “Several institutions across the world, have overlooked medical exams for active doctors in the pandemic and request you to consider the same. The competence of doctors is automatically being tested in their participation in (the) current crisis, and several internal examinations and our own faculty can vouch for it considering the course of our residencies.” The Indian Express has a copy of the letter.

On May 22, the MCI board of governors had advised colleges to conduct the examinations by June 30.

MCI is the nodal body governing all medical universities in India. In view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), which governs all medical colleges in the state, however, had written to the MCI stating that exams would be held from July 15 onward.

The Governor, also Chancellor of the state universities, Thursday had given nod to conduct all final-year undergraduate and postgraduate examinations of the MUHS from July 15 onwards, as proposed by the university, after a meeting with State Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh.

The final-year PG students are due to appear for four theory and practical papers.

“The MUHS has verbally told us that preparatory leave would be granted for exams, but it is impossible to think of taking an off at a time when the (Covid-19) situation is worsening. We also foresee more (Covid-19) patients and cases of dengue and malaria after the monsoon sets in. In such a situation, how can we think of appearing for exams,” a resident doctor from KEM hospital said.

Another a resident doctor said, “In case our exams are postponed and our degrees are withheld until then, we will lose out to students of other states who will have received their degrees and will appear for super-speciality exams. In the present scenario, we are of the opinion that the MCI should promote us based on our internal assessments, which have already been conducted.”

Maharashtra has more than 3,000 post-graduate medical students.