The one-year compulsory rural service for MBBS students proposed by the Ministry of Health has created a stir among medical students across the State.
In the proposed one year MBBS graduates will have to work in primary health centres (PHC), taluk hospitals and district headquarters hospitals, each for a period of four months.
With the one-year compulsory service MBBS will be extended to a six and half-year programme.
Currently it consists of a four-and-a-half year regular course and one year of training under Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship (CRRI).
Doctors’ Association for Social Equality (DASE), which has been opposing the proposal from the very beginning, points out that this is a clear move to employ MBBS students at PHC, community medical centres and district headquarters hospitals on meagre pay.
“This is a temporary posting where MBBS students will be paid a meagre salary. If a doctor is appointed permanently to the post, the government will have to pay about `30,000 per month,” says Dr G R Ravindranath, general secretary of DASE.
At the same time Dr Ravindranath stresses that doctors are not reluctant to work in rural areas, pointing to the response received for the Medical Recruitment Board Exam conducted recently.
“About 5,000 MBBS students applied for the 691 vacancies available for PHC appointments. This clearly indicates that doctors are not reluctant to work in rural parts,” he said.
Dr K Kamalakumar, representative of the current CRRI batch at Madras Medical College, sees practical difficulties in the proposed programme.
“The one-year contract period is like a ‘use and throw approach’, which will definitely affect our future opportunities. We will have to spend another two-three years to get PG admission,” he observed.
According to Dr A K Abinesh, representative of the ongoing CRRI batch at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, the current programme itself is longer than other professional courses, including engineering.
“If the MCI makes rural service mandatory, it should also make sure that rural health centres are equipped with adequate facilities. Increasing the remuneration and assuring permanency in such postings may encourage more doctors to turn up,” he said.