While shortage of teachers is hampering medical education in the country, faculty members are not adequately prepared to respond to emergent needs that call for immediate steps to overcome the shortcomings, opined doctors at a workshop on faculty orientation held here on Saturday.
“We need formulation of a national policy of health professional education while there is an urgent need to shift the emphasis from inspection by regulatory bodies to quality assurance and accreditation,” said former HoD of Obstetrics Gynaecology Prof Sujata Mohanty at the SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack.The workshop was organized by the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of the Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital (IMSSH).
As chief guest, Prof Mohanty said that medical students need to be lifelong learners for their continued development, both personally and professionally. And, this demands diverse learning styles which most teachers are not equipped with.
As chief speaker, former HoD (O & B) in SCB Medical College and Hospital Prof Sindhu Nandini Tripathy lamented that most students passing out of medical colleges now prefer to go for private practice or lucrative jobs in corporate hospitals instead of taking up teaching.
Besides, HoD (Obstetrics and Gynecology) Prof Purna Chandra Mohapatra at the SCB Medical College and Hospital called for integration between medical colleges, Universities and the Medical Council of India to improve the situation. He also underlined the need to revamp the present examination system.
Former HoD at Sum Hospital Prof Sushanta Mohapatra recommended that all medical colleges should have faculty development training facilities and programmes round the year. The State Government should take adequate care for preparation of basic doctors, he added.