MBBS in Hindi would be inconvenient, say doctors

Dr Arun Kumar Gupta, president of the Delhi Medical Council told The Indian Express, " Most books that are a part of the modern medical education have been written and published in the west, by default, in the English language. The medium of instruction can be changed to Hindi but it is not possible to change the academic vocabulary of the MBBS curriculum. Even if the books are translated, almost all reputable research papers and journals are published in English."

Previously Medical Dialogues that the Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat has confirmed that the Uttrakhand has considered introducing an MBBS course in Hindi soon. This will be a great help for Hindi-medium students in competing with their English medium counterparts. He said that this was in keeping with the new (NEP), which emphasizes "Indian knowledge systems" and instruction in the "mother tongue.

Last year the government of Madhya Pradesh wanted to start medical courses in Hindi in early September 2021, but the National Medical Commission (NMC) rejected the proposal, citing that medical courses conducted in any language other than English would not be recognized by the commission. AIIMS Rishikesh Professor, Dr Amit Gupta pointed out that it is going to be difficult for the teachers to suddenly teach in a different language.

"When we were students, we also took all our classes in English. In the entire country, there is not a single college that is conducting MBBS, MDS, or BDS classes in Hindi or any other regional language. The teachers, by default, are trained to teach in English as they've also been taught in the same language. So, if the course has to be launched in Hindi, then the teachers will also have to be trained along with translating the entire syllabus, which is going to be a tedious process," Dr Gupta added.

He went on to say that colleges may teach Hindi to students from north India, but what about pupils from the south and north-east? In India, students relocate from one state to another for medical study as the best medical institutes are dispersed around the country, he explained.

Dr Aloy Mukherjee, senior consultant, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, told the daily that medical education in Hindi or any regional language will not be helpful as medicos need to travel to different regions to study medical courses.

"It is only going to pull us down. Hindi as the medium of language can be added as an adjunct but to have the entire course completely in Hindi is going to be detrimental. MBBS is not a basic degree course as a student has to apply everything in situations that require life risks. Doctors cannot be held to serve only in one particular region and they would like to explore other opportunities. The graduates will also not be eligible to go out of India and pursue higher education, fellowship, or research," Dr Mukherjee told the daily.

The National President of the Indian Medical Students Organization (IMSO), Dr Mohit Singh added that under the current circumstances when medicos are bound to travel far, using English as a medium for MBBS course will be inconvenient. He added that apart from the scarcity of available study materials in Hindi, it is also pertinent to notice that the surgical and pharmacy sectors are completely dependent on English due to the technical terms.

" The Uttarakhand government should focus on making AYUSH, which is already in the Hindi language, more resonant with modern medicine and also increase the R&D budget," Singh added.

Giving an instance of the kinds of problems that the decision can give rise to, Parijat Mishra, Head, Career Counsellor (Academics), Allen Career Institute, Kota stated, " For instance, two practising doctors have completed their medical education in Tamil and Telugu, respectively. The nursing staff is from northeast India and the patient is from Karnataka. Then, how will the system communicate with each other if not through a common language, i.e. English? Medicine study in a regional language is common in Russia, China, and some European countries, but it might not be recognised by countries such as the US or UK where opportunities and technology are better and ever-evolving."