In a move to meet the shortage of specialists in the country, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has allowed the MBBS students to practice as medical specialists in case they have done the two-year diploma courses from the Mumbai-based College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS).
Presently, MBBS holders are allowed to perform surgeries, anesthetic procedures or C-section only after they have acquired Post-Graduate (PG) degree. However, as per the recent direction of the MCI, even those with the two-year diploma courses offered from the CPS will be eligible to become specialist in the subject. last month, the Health Ministry issued a notification in this regard.
Incidentally, in 2009, the medical education regulator had derecognised the courses offered by the CPS which was established way back in 1913 during British rule to fulfill the need of intermediate specialists.
The CPS offers two-year diploma courses in broad specialties like anesthesia, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, radiology and a few others. These were till recently were recognised only by Maharashtra and Gujarat Government.
But now with the MCI tag, says Devi Shetty, chairman of Narayana Hrudayalaya and founder of the Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI), "the MBBS doctors can acquire intermediate specialisation from the CPS which in-turn can help strengthen rural healthcare delivery and improve healthcare indicators by making available adequate specialists in healthcare delivery."
He said, now 65,697 MBBS doctors in Government hospitals are eligible to become specialists in two years. All 200-bed multi-specialty hospitals and 100 bed single hospitals in Government and private sector having experienced faculties and adequate clinical load will be eligible to host the CPS training courses.
Dr Giridhar Gyani, also from the AHPI added that in keeping with the Supreme Court order on a single entrance for all post graduate courses, CPS too will be taking in only NEET-qualified candidates and through a centralised counselling.
Currently, about 1,600 MBBS graduates from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Dadra and Nagar Haveli are enrolled for various CPS diploma courses.
Gyani further said that the gross under-utilisation of doctors in India is due to huge disparity between number of undergraduate and post graduate seats. "India is producing 63,835 MBBS graduates every year but has less than 25,000 PG seats.
We cannot improve on health indicators unless we have specialists to deliver medical care." For instance, he said, we need 2,00,000 pediatricians against presently available 23,000, similarly we need 100,00 radiologists while we are producing just 10,000.