Doctors’ dilemma

CHENNAI: Government doctors have opposed the health department’s decision to send post graduate doctors pursuing MD in Emergency Medicine to private hospitals for training. The directorate of medical education, in a letter on December 20, instructed the deans of the government medical colleges to depute emergency medicine postgraduates from their respective colleges to Ganga Hospital in Coimbatore “so as to ensure improved quality of emergency care services”.

The government introduced MD in Emergency Medicine course in government medical colleges on December 7,2022. Recently the union health ministry had given its approval for 85 seats in the speciality for Tamil Nadu.

In the letter, the director of Medical Education said the principal secretary of health and family welfare department had advised to send all the MD (Emergency Medicine) post graduates for outstation training. “The first outstation training has been arranged with  Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore,” it read.

Opposing the move, President of Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association, Dr K Senthil,  said the move is against National Medical Commission rules. “Such initiative can later be demanded or followed for all specialties,.” he said. He said the government specialists are more experienced and skilled than those at private hospitals. “The difference is the sophisticated infrastructure, more paramedics and less patients,” Dr Senthil said.

He said NMC permits admission of  PG students only after ensuring enough training facilities and faculties of a particular college. “This training may mean the government doesn’t have it,” he said.Any UG and PG student has to be trained only in allotted institutions throughout the course. Exchange between the government colleges itself is not allowed by NMC. “So, it violates NMC rules,” added Dr Senthil.

The Service Doctors and Post Graduates Association (SDPGA) in its statement said, “Tamil Nadu Health department has world-class infrastructure and trained and skilled faculty. In this scenario, deputing our postgraduates to corporate hospitals is a regressive step.”

The association said the NMC mandates specific specialists with teaching experience to qualify as faculty in MD Emergency Medicine in its guidelines and the qualified persons are better available in our institutions than in the private sector. SDPGA has also requested the authorities to withdraw the order to instill confidence on Emergency Medicine faculties in government hospitals.

However, Director of Medical Education, Dr R Shanthimalar, said Emergency Medicine is a new course in the state, and the move aims at exchange of knowledge, and the government has already approved the programme while launching the course itself. “There is no dearth of infrastructure facilities in the government medical colleges. It is on par with TN Accident and Emergency Care Initiative (TAEI) concept. The students of private institutions are also coming to government institutions for study,” Dr Shanthimalar added.