Inadequate number of Medical Teachers to teach Lakhs of MBBS Students across India

Mysuru: Referring to the need to protect and promote the profession of medical college teachers, the Psychiatry Teachers' Forum of Indian Psychiatry Society (IPS) has pointed out how there is a lack of medical college teachers in India against the increased number of medical seats.

Opining that the sacred profession of medical college teachers requires proper attention, the Chairperson of the Forum, Dr. Kishor M., who is also the Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry at JSS Medical College and Hospital Mysuru, referred to the fact that even though the intake of students has substantially increased over the last few years, no such increase can be noticed in the number of teachers.

He pointed out that currently, India has more than 700 medical colleges with an intake capacity of more than 1,00,000 MBBS and 80,000 PG medical seats including the Super Speciality.

“These numbers roughly translate to over 7.5 lakh medical students pursuing undergraduate or post-graduate courses at any given point in India,” he said.

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In comparison, he referred to the fact that the number of medical college teachers in the country is under one lakh. “The intake in medical colleges went up from 150 to 250 per year in the last couple of years, but the number of teachers has remained the same,” he told The Hindu.

He also clarified that the Competency-based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum that was introduced by the National Medical Commission (NMC) back in the year 2019 has made the training of medical students intensive and time-consuming and it also requires greater involvement and passion by teachers. “These teaching-learning processes cannot be replaced even with the best videos or the standard textbooks,” Dr. Kishor said.

The Daily adds that Dr. Kishor further pointed out that even with the multiplied cost of living in the last decade, the pay scale for medical college teachers remained unchanged in most of the medical colleges.

Agreeing that private practice is an option, Dr. Kishor further referred to the fact that this practice will end up compromising the quality time required to train the budding doctors and opined that society cannot afford the consequences of poor training on future doctors.

“So, the question is, how do we save this dwindling number of passionate medical college teachers who have the zeal to train upcoming doctors?” he asked.

Further claiming that a vast majority of medical college teachers in the country do not have the assurance of a pension for their financial security after their retirement, he added, "They have to start from scratch to build their practice, which is near impossible."

Dr. Kishor opined that medical students are not only the future doctors but they are also the foundation of healthcare services in India and emphasized the crucial need for the right kind of training for these doctors for healthcare services in India. Therefore, he expressed his wish of the Apex Medical Commission to come up with a strategy to ensure that passionate medical teachers are rewarded.

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