Gujarat: Corona duty may count as PG medical internship

AHMEDABAD: The resident doctors have been toiling hard for more than two months in Covid-19 wards as frontline corona warriors. Looking at the exigency, the state government has requested the Medical Council of India (MCI) to postpone final exams of third year postgraduate medical students.
But the government seems to have plans to compensate these resident doctors for the delay in their final exams. It has decided to treat the Covid-19 duty period as part of their mandatory internship, which normally starts immediately after their exams with their posting in rural areas for a year.
Many doctors skip this internship by redeeming their Rs 30 lakh bond, which the government makes the students sign while granting them admission. But the state government has now decided to grant them relaxation.
Covid-19 patients were mainly treated by these resident doctors, who had even complained about the difficulties they faced in an anonymous letter to the Gujarat high court last month.
With the hectic Covid duty schedules, the state government is of the opinion that it cannot spare the services of these students by granting them time to take their final tests, which are normally scheduled in April and May. The exams may not be held before August. The principal secretary, health, Jayanti Ravi said, “We are considering and talks are under way about how to consider the Covid duty as part of the internship period so that students are not at a loss.” She also said that like Gujarat, there are other states which have requested the central authority for postponement of the final exam for third year students.
On this subject, the president of Junior Doctors’ Association, Pinkesh Damor, said, “Examinations are not possible in this scenario with all senior doctors busy with Covid duty. They may not even come from other centres. Whave demanded that the Covid duty of resident doctors be counted as part of their internship.”