Additionally, there was a 94 per cent rise within the variety of MBBS seats – from 51,348 to 99,763 – and a 107 per cent enhance within the variety of postgraduate (PG) seats – from 31,185 earlier than 2014 to 64,559. Also, as per reviews, 50 new medical colleges have been permitted this yr, including 8,195 extra undergraduate seats and taking the whole variety of such seats within the nation previous 1,07,658, official sources revealed.

While the thought of accelerating the variety of medical faculties by roping in non-public hospitals for medical training sounds good on paper, specialists are divided over this new announcement.

Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) chief Dr Rohan Krishnan believes non-public hospitals beginning their very own medical programs in India can result in a decline within the high quality of medical training within the nation. “It is very important to maintain the quality of medical education rather than just opening medical colleges with a lot of seats. To impart quality education, we need faculties which are not present right now in our private hospitals,” he tells indianexpress.com.

“These hospitals only have consultants and associate consultants and no one who knows anything about teaching, research, thesis, guidelines, clinical teaching, bedside teaching, laboratory teaching, etc which are some of the most important aspects of medical education. We have to produce quality doctors, and not just MBBS graduates,” Dr Krishnan says.

On the opposite hand, Dr Rohan Khandelwal, lead marketing consultant and HOD on the Breast Centre, C Ok Birla Hospital, Gurgaon, believes this could be a good step. However, he’s fast so as to add that such institutes or hospitals “would need to have stringent criteria regarding what kind of patient load these private hospitals are seeing, and if they have the necessary facilities to start a medical college.”

However, Amrita Hospital, which already conducts programs at its Kochi department and is now launching medical programs at its Faridabad department, says the institute ensures that the standard of training being offered adheres to authorities pointers. “We maintain quality control in the courses by implementing a continuous quality assurance programme based on NAAC standards and following the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) process established by the University Grants Commission (UGC),” says Dr Prem Kumar Nair, Provost (Medical Sciences), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.

In addition to the standard, what worries specialists and aspirants is the rising value of medical training. “The exorbitant fees that private medical colleges charge discourages students. So one must focus on two important things in medical education – one is affordability and two is basic facility, equipment and maintenance of the minimum standard guidelines of the Medical Council or the National Medical Commission. One should never compromise on quality and affordability,” Dr Krishnan provides.

Confirming that it prices Rs 50,000 per semester (roughly), Amrita Hospital claims that this worth is decrease than that charged by comparable institutes

One of the advantages that college students can get by means of this new initiative is that after they graduate, they’ll have a greater likelihood of discovering jobs within the medical trade. “Students who complete their courses at the organisation do get preference during the hiring process at Amrita Hospital. This is because the faculty is familiar with the strengths and skills of each student and how well they are trained. As a result, when the students are hired, they quickly integrate into the team, and there is a short learning curve for any required training. This ensures that they are productive from day one,” Dr Nair explains.

Having medical college students on the hospital campuses additionally helps enhance the hospital’s workforce and keep the every day workload, he added. “Our Kochi branch does not face any issues in conducting courses while maintaining the daily work of the hospitals. In fact, the courses are beneficial to the department as the faculty can mentor the students and senior students can guide the juniors. No issues have been reported with the hospital’s operations while conducting the courses,” he clarifies.

(The National Medical Commission is but to reply to a request for remark.)