IMA Punjab warns Short-Term Training Cannot Replace Formal Medical Education

Chandigarh: As the Punjab government proposes to map and train unregistered medical practitioners (URMPs) to provide basic medical care, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Punjab, has strongly opposed the proposal, arguing that short-term training cannot substitute for formal medical education and clinical experience.

The IMA’s objection comes after a report on August 31 highlighted the government’s plan to bring informal clinics operating across the state into the formal healthcare system. District health authorities have been asked to collect detailed profiles of such practitioners, including their educational qualifications, clinical experience and operational history, as part of a proposed state-run training programme. 

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Medical Dialogues yesterday reported that Punjab has directed all civil surgeons across the state to prepare a comprehensive list of unregistered medical practitioners (URMPs) as part of a proposed government initiative to bring the informal healthcare sector under a regulated framework. 

Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh said that regulation is the primary objective of the exercise and that the practitioners would be trained based on their qualifications.

However, the IMA-Punjab has raised serious concerns over the proposal. In a letter to the health minister, the association said a short-term training programme could not substitute for the years of medical education, clinical exposure and professional accountability required to practise modern medicine. 

“The proposal to map and train URMPs could compromise patient safety and medical ethics,” said Dr RS Sethi, president, IMA-Punjab.

The association warned that inadequately trained practitioners could fail to recognise serious symptoms, delay referrals or provide treatment beyond their competence. Such errors, it said, could result in complications and potentially irreversible harm to patients.

According to the Hindustan Times, “Healthcare is not merely a skill that can be imparted through a short-duration training programme,” the IMA said, stressing that diagnosis, clinical judgment, interpretation of investigations, recognition of complications, emergency management, rational prescribing and timely referral require years of structured medical education and supervised clinical training.

The doctors’ body acknowledged that the government’s aim of improving healthcare access in rural and underserved areas was legitimate. However, it argued that short-term administrative or financial considerations should not compromise patient safety.

Instead of creating a separate category of minimally trained practitioners, the IMA urged the government to focus on strengthening the existing rural healthcare system. Its suggestions include increasing the availability of qualified MBBS doctors in rural areas, offering incentives for doctors serving in difficult locations, filling vacant positions and upgrading primary and community health centres.

The association also called for improvements in emergency referral systems, ambulance availability, diagnostic facilities and specialist-referral services.

“The answer to a shortage of doctors should be more doctors, better distribution of doctors and better healthcare infrastructure—not a lower standard of medical qualification,” Dr Sethi said, reports Hindustan Times.

The IMA has urged the health minister to review the proposal and ensure that no person lacking the legally recognised qualification and registration required to practise modern medicine is permitted to independently diagnose, prescribe or treat patients merely on the basis of short-term training.

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