It’s win-win situation for private colleges
Decision To Increase Internship Seats In Govt Hospitals Has Come As A Boon For Pvt Colleges
Hyderabad: Private medical colleges are the key beneficiaries of the internship scam that was unearthed in Gandhi Hospital recently when 40 MBBS students were caught forging signatures of various department heads to get their internship certificates. These private colleges make anywhere between Rs 1-2 lakh from each student for issuing NOCs which allow them to do an internship outside. The hospitals attached to private colleges lack patient strength to give students the kind of exposure that they get at a government hospital and neither have the faculty, and so issuing an NOC for a price comes in as a handy option that suits both the college and the student, who prefer to have a Gandhi or an Osmania on their internship certificate.
The medical education department’s decision to increase the number of seats for externs in government colleges like Gandhi and Osmania from 60 to 200 a few years ago has come as a boon for the private college managements. By issuing 50 NOCs, they make a neat Rs 1 crore.
Of the nearly 5,000 MBBS seats in the state, 3,000 seats are under the private sector. Poor patient flow is one of the main reasons why about 35% of the students from private colleges choose to do their internship at the overloaded government hospitals. The hidden agenda is however to evade the strenuous training. Experts note that staterun hospitals like Gandhi, Osmania, Andhra and Guntur Medical College among others enjoy a good reputation of being the prime tertiary care hospitals in the state. Dr A Y Chary, former superintendent of Gandhi hospital, who retired as DME, said the basic criteria for selecting a government hospital was its reputation.
“Gandhi is not just a big name but has got all the departments under one roof unlike other hospitals.Less work and poor supervision due to number of house surgeons has made it a favorite among the community. A good library is also attached to the hospital. So they don’t spend time in the wards but sit in the library,” he adds.
Senior doctors say that the present-day house surgeons don’t want to get trained unlike those two to three decades back. They say that today, MBBS is only a prerequisite for post-graduation. Doctors maintained that the demand for setting up of private medical colleges is on an all-time high but when it comes to the quality of training, all the existing colleges fail miserably. “In one of the several MCI violations, none of these colleges are paying stipend to these house surgeons. However, they ensure that they collect Rs 35-40 lakh for aseat,” laments a professor.
Dr M Geyanand, a health expert with Jana Vignana Vedika, further says that more medical colleges in the private sector will further dilute the education and training. “Instead, the government should set up medical colleges in each of the districts,” he said. “Government hospitals are trying to increase the seats but they could not do so due to lack of proper infrastructure. But then how they are training another 200 students from outside besides their own 150 students,” he questioned. He blamed the large number of students for the drastic decline of standards in the government hospitals.
However, private hospital managements say that they are not compelling students. “People who want to get trained in their parent college are allowed to do so. But when there is an opportunity to do internship in a government college, why can’t they make use of it? Hospitals are gaining both ways as managements want to make money,” says an administrator of a private medical college.
When contacted, Dr Vasanth Prasad, director, medical education, claimed that he was not aware about the fee charged for issuing NOCS. “We are not aware of it and this does not come under our purview. At Gandhi and Osmania, we have given permission for intake of 400 students from outside,” he said.
( T h i s i s t h e l a s t o f a t w o - p a r t s e - r i e s o n t h e i n t e r n s h i p s c a m )
The medical education department’s decision to increase the number of seats for externs in government colleges like Gandhi and Osmania from 60 to 200 a few years ago has come as a boon for the private college managements. By issuing 50 NOCs, they make a neat Rs 1 crore.
Of the nearly 5,000 MBBS seats in the state, 3,000 seats are under the private sector. Poor patient flow is one of the main reasons why about 35% of the students from private colleges choose to do their internship at the overloaded government hospitals. The hidden agenda is however to evade the strenuous training. Experts note that staterun hospitals like Gandhi, Osmania, Andhra and Guntur Medical College among others enjoy a good reputation of being the prime tertiary care hospitals in the state. Dr A Y Chary, former superintendent of Gandhi hospital, who retired as DME, said the basic criteria for selecting a government hospital was its reputation.
“Gandhi is not just a big name but has got all the departments under one roof unlike other hospitals.Less work and poor supervision due to number of house surgeons has made it a favorite among the community. A good library is also attached to the hospital. So they don’t spend time in the wards but sit in the library,” he adds.
Senior doctors say that the present-day house surgeons don’t want to get trained unlike those two to three decades back. They say that today, MBBS is only a prerequisite for post-graduation. Doctors maintained that the demand for setting up of private medical colleges is on an all-time high but when it comes to the quality of training, all the existing colleges fail miserably. “In one of the several MCI violations, none of these colleges are paying stipend to these house surgeons. However, they ensure that they collect Rs 35-40 lakh for aseat,” laments a professor.
Dr M Geyanand, a health expert with Jana Vignana Vedika, further says that more medical colleges in the private sector will further dilute the education and training. “Instead, the government should set up medical colleges in each of the districts,” he said. “Government hospitals are trying to increase the seats but they could not do so due to lack of proper infrastructure. But then how they are training another 200 students from outside besides their own 150 students,” he questioned. He blamed the large number of students for the drastic decline of standards in the government hospitals.
However, private hospital managements say that they are not compelling students. “People who want to get trained in their parent college are allowed to do so. But when there is an opportunity to do internship in a government college, why can’t they make use of it? Hospitals are gaining both ways as managements want to make money,” says an administrator of a private medical college.
When contacted, Dr Vasanth Prasad, director, medical education, claimed that he was not aware about the fee charged for issuing NOCS. “We are not aware of it and this does not come under our purview. At Gandhi and Osmania, we have given permission for intake of 400 students from outside,” he said.
( T h i s i s t h e l a s t o f a t w o - p a r t s e - r i e s o n t h e i n t e r n s h i p s c a m )
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