Junior doctors oppose new medical colleges

BANGALORE, APRIL 28. Members of the Karnataka State Junior Doctors' Association launched a protest here on Saturday against the approval of new medical colleges in the State.

The doctors said that of the 22 medical colleges in the State, only 18 were recognised for post-graduate intake. Dr. Ramesh Billimoga, association office-bearer, stressed the need for a larger share of postgraduate seats. The under-graduate intake for all these colleges was about 2,700 students a year while the intake for postgraduate courses was about 1,200. About 9,000 students applied for 500 seats in postgraduate courses every year.

Referring to the growing unemployment among doctors in the State, he said the doctor-population ratio was one per 1,100 as against the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation of one per 3,500.

The association representatives were unhappy with the way the postgraduate examinations were conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS). There was a drastic fall in the results, they said.

Initially, the success rate used to be around 80 per cent. It had come down to 30 to 40 per cent. Of these, almost 10 per cent of the students failed by one or two marks. This, the association said, reflected not on the ability of the candidate but on the valuation.

The junior doctors said grace marks should be given to enable students pass the examination and save one year.

There was lack of co-ordination between the Directorate of Medical Education and the university, they added.

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Section  : Southern States
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