PremiumAnand Mahindra has also urged the Government and the National Medical Commission to look into Dr Shetty's suggestion to provide ‘an immediate, cost-effective boost to the capacity of medical education in India’
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The latest war between Russia and Ukraine has exposed the gaps in Indian medical education. Thousands of students who used to study abroad to fulfill their dreams in the medical profession have now come back to India with their futures in limbo.
The incident raised a big question about why such large numbers of Indian students go abroad for medical studies. And, the answers were--few seats and high fees. Thereafter a lot of expertise has tried to find a solution to the problem, besides, the Centre and the apex court have also intervened in this matter. Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra had also written about opening a medical college on the campus of Mahindra University. However, the industrialist has now backed the suggestions of renowned Indian doctor Devi Shetty on how to improve India's medical education.
Anand Mahindra has also urged the Government and the National Medical Commission to look into Dr Shetty's suggestion to provide "an immediate, cost-effective boost to the capacity of medical education in India".
In a column in a daily newspaper, Dr Shetty has advised the Centre that doubling the number of existing medical seats will address the shortage of affordable medical seats.
The doctor highlighted that to build over 7 lakh square feet of college, hospital, and accommodation for the entire student population, staff, and family, large centrally air-conditioned auditorium etc in a 20-acre campus will cost about ₹500 crore.
However, if there will be 14--strong faculty for 100 students, the annual salary and maintenance cost will be around ₹140 crore. With the annual intake of 100-150 medical students per year, the cost of medical education can never come down due to infrastructure and working capital requirements.
"Let us be Conservative and increase medical seats in existing medical colleges to 300 by adding additional large government hospitals for practical training of these students. Students chosen for additional 150 seats in private medical colleges should pay about ₹25 lakh tuition fee for the five-year course, less than the current fee in Ukraine and China. government medical colleges should continue with low fee structures." Dr Shetty wrote in a column.
He also suggested that converting a large number of government hospitals into vibrant teaching hospitals will take care of middle-and low-income patients.
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