CHENNAI: Less than two weeks after issuing a circular for posting service postgraduate doctors temporarily without counselling, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DME) on Friday announced that posting counselling for them would begin on October 22.
Doctors who had earlier been questioning the temporary postings said the announcement has caused confusion and asked why the DME hurried through temporary postings and relieved everyone from their stations if counselling could be held so soon. Of the around 500 doctors posted under the DME, most had joined duty at their new places and were only still settling in, they said.
A service PG doctor said a female doctor temporarily posted at the Tirunelveli hospital has been travelling from Madurai to Tirunelveli and back daily while also appearing for her exams. Some have also been posted far from their native places, they said, as the temporary postings were made as per vacancies and not the choices they were asked to fill in on the form.
With the counselling date announced, many said they are unsure if they will be retained at their temporarily posted places or moved elsewhere. The counselling schedule came a day after the Directorate of Medical Services released a temporary postings circular for the remaining service PG doctors in hospitals under its control. The DME issued temporary orders on October 5.
The health department had said the arrangement was to ease the salary process. Counselling for service PG doctors who completed the course in October 2025 was held only in December, which delayed their salaries. Doctors, however, said the service PG doctors stay on at their medical college hospital until counselling and it never caused salary issues.
