April 6: Malpractices in medical education exist not just in private medical colleges but also in government teaching hospitals. When inspecting teams come from the Medical Council of India come on a visit, doctors are shifted from one district tertiary hospital to another district’s teaching hospital, to make it look like there are no vacant seats, reveal senior government doctors.
Actually, more than a 100 vacancies exist in key positions like professors or heads of departments in various teaching hospitals throughout Andhra Pradesh. Irregularities in the appointment of doctors and professors, and bribery to get appointments are common in state teaching hospitals. Doctors who are promoted to the rank of professors and associate professors often don’t have the required qualification.
“Since the number of post-graduate seats is directly proportional to the units in each department (a unit usually consists of a professor or head of the department, two associate professors and a couple of assistant professors), vacancies in the post of professors and associate professors is also going to affect new recruitment of medicos,” said a senior government doctor from a specialty hospital in Hyderabad. The quality of teaching, training of PG doctors in their fields of specialisation, new recruitment of doctors and overall patient care is affected because of these vacancies.
Senior government doctors allege that paying money under the table can also fetch one a promotion. There is no transparency. Admitting that many vacancies exist in key positions, which need to be addressed at the earliest, Dr P.V. Ramesh, principal secretary, (medical and health), said: “For long we had three health ministers and two health secretaries, concentrating either on medical education or on health and family welfare. We will now have to come up with an integrated approach and uniformity of policy as for the first time in 15 years we have a single health minister and single health secretary looking after both medical education and health. Streamlining the medical set up has to be quickened.”