NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) may have announced putting on hold the proposed dual degree medical course combining the MBBS and BAMS courses, but has not shelved it completely.
Instead, JIPMER has already formed internal committees to evaluate the proposal, prepared by the Auroville Foundation and announced with great fanfare by Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and AYUSH, Prataprao Jadhav, on May 27 at its campus.
It will also seek the opinion of major stakeholders, including medical teachers, students, parents, and the National Medical Commission (NMC) – which was earlier kept out of the loop.
JIPMER will also consult external experts and will then finally submit the proposal and the course curriculum, which proposes an over five-year degree course with a one-year internship to award the dual degree, to its highest policy-making body – the Institute Body.
In its letter, accessed by this paper, to the Union Health Ministry, S. Rangabashiam, Deputy Director (Admin.) and Nodal Officer to MOH&FW, JIPMER Puducherry, said: “The recommendation of the Institute Body will have to be approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW), Govt. of lndia since this would have far reaching consequences on Medical Education and Health Care in the entire country.”
The letter has come to light after JIPMER shared it with Kerala-based ophthamologist, Dr KV Babu, who had filed an RTI seeking their response on the new integrated medical course combining MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) and BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) at the Institute of National Importance (INI), which is under the Union Health Ministry.
The July 29 letter was addressed to the Union Health Ministry following its multiple queries for the Institute’s comments.
The same letter was also shared with Dr Babu after his first RTI was met with refusal.
The TNIE was the first to write about the new integrated course to be introduced at JIPMER. After the TNIE story went viral, drawing strong protests from medical doctors, including the Indian Medical Association (IMA), JIPMER, in a short statement on September 13, said, “The Institute hereby categorically clarifies that there is no move to introduce any such programme at JIPMER as of now.”
Speaking with the TNIE , Dr Babu said: “It has not come as a surprise to me that JIPMER plans to pursue the dual medical degree course.”
“The NMC, which regulates medical education, was earlier kept in the dark. The letter shows that now they plan to seek NMC’s response on the dual medical degree and the proposed curriculum,” said Dr Babu, who received JIPMER’s response on September 18.
“The tone of the letter is very worrying. It is stating that the Union Health Ministry ‘will have to approve’ the course once its Institute Body recommends it. I hope the ministry puts an end to this regressive step of the Auroville Foundation and doesn’t give its final approval.”
The letter said: “The Institute has already formed internal committees to evaluate the proposal and course curriculum submitted. Further, consultations will be held with external experts of repute from the fields of Modern Medicine & Ayurveda to explore the modalities of implementation.
“In this regard, it is to submit that this proposal, though visionary, is unprecedented in the history of Medical Education in the country. Therefore, due diligence must be exercised, and the opinions of all major stakeholders, including Medical Teachers, Students, Parents, the National Medical Commission, and the National Board of Examinations, among others, has to be taken into account. Further, a conscious decision has to be taken at the level of the highest policy-making body of the Institute, i.e. the Institute Body (IB).”
In her January 25 letter last year to the Union Health Ministry, Auroville Secretary Dr Jayanti S Ravi had acknowledged that discussions were held over the previous several months with Dr VK Paul, Member, NITI Aayog; Dr Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, AYUSH, and others. Its own senior directors were also involved in the discussions.
Dr Ravi, the former Gujarat-cadre IAS officer, who initiated the course, said, “It is meant to be a bold experiment to allow for synthesis of the ancient and modern in various disciplines and aspects of life. Given this, there will be no place better than Auroville Foundation to start the course to provide an integral approach to healthcare.”
“The curricula are now being fine-tuned for detailed integration of the two streams of science,” said the letter, which was shared with Dr Babu on August 22 by the Union Health Ministry following his RTI.