In order to understand why Tamil Nadu (TN) strongly opposes the centralised medical entrance exam of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), it is pertinent to take a look at the history that led up to the state’s strong opposition to this exam.
The relevance, provisions and the implications of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 for the future of medical education and health practice in the country are examined here. This act is a step towards improving governance and introducing reforms with the potential to create an enabling environment, and facilitate standardisation in processes and transparency in the functioning of the health sector.
The Supreme Court has paved the way to hold the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, a common entrance test for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses, from the 2016-17 academic year. It had earlier declared this test to be unconstitutional. This article critically looks at some of the important points of contention raised by various stakeholders associated with it.
A parliamentary committee has closely studied the failings of the Medical Council of India and has made far-reaching recommendations which, if implemented, may well transform healthcare delivery in India. The underlying disease, however, is not the failures of the MCI but the complete commercialisation of medical education and of healthcare in the era of market triumphalism. Can we join the dots and demand a more systemic change?
The impoverishment within the public health system is in stark contrast to the phenomenal rise of private healthcare, its international standards, medical tourism and its focus on servicing the rich. A meaningful change within medical education and the public health system, both predictors of healthcare delivery and of national standards of health, seems to be light years away. While the challenge of reforming medical education in India requires a revolution, much of the debate refuses to identify the elephant in the room, that is, the politics of medical education and public health.
The eighth Krishna Raj Memorial lecture by Eric Suba, held recently, was based on the visual inspection with acetic acid test for cervical cancer trials held in India and the lack of ethics they involved. Research that uses the absence of care as the foundation of its trial design is exploitative research that violates the rights of its participants who put their faith in researchers to protect them from harm.
This paper examines the growth and regional spread of medical education in India, particularly in the private sector. An important feature of the considerable growth of medical education, especially after the 1990s, has been the setting up of numerous private medical colleges in the country. Interestingly, this growth has occurred primarily in the more developed states with better health outcomes, while the low-income states with poor health indicators have lagged behind. This unequal distribution of medical colleges has had an impact on the availability of medical services and has resulted in regional differences in access to doctors in the country.
The new regulation for ethical medical practice, prompted no doubt by public concern about medical misconduct, is unfortunately a vague and weak regulatory instrument. How effective will it be in monitoring unethical practices?
