MCI Disapproval: MD Family Medicine course at Kozhikode Medical College at Risk
Kozhikode: The Kozhikode Medical College is on the verge of losing the Medical Council of India (MCI) approval for family medicine course with the facilities at this department at a meagre level having no optimum amount of faculty or beds.
According to MCI, repeated memorandums were sent to the medical college authorities highlighting the existing issues at the institute, however, no response was received.
Recently, the medical council team had inspected the medical college premises only to assess the facility attached to the general medicine department. The authorities at the institute have applied for 2 to 7 seats in the family medicine department. In order to get approval for the PG medical course, the medical college needs to have 30 beds at the family medicine department.
Read Also: Shocker: Whooping 5,671 MD, MS seats vacant in 2019-20, states MCI BOG records
For this purpose, the institutional authorities have been advised by the apex medical council to improve the situation by the time of next inspection which is now scheduled to take place in July next year.
It is ironic that Kozhikode medical college is the first in the country to have the MD Family Medicine course. It had received the MCI approval in the year 2012 ,since then, however the medical college apparently failed to maintain the standards for imparting the course.
As of now, the Kerala Public Service Commission is yet to appoint permanent faculty to the family health department. The medical college only has an emeritus professor, a professor transferred from another department on deputation, and a temporary assistant professor as staffers in the department, apart from junior and senior resident doctors. There are no nurses or paramedical staff.
Speaking about the reasons as to why the department has been overlooked, a former professor at the medical college told The Hindu that the concept of family medicine had been neglected mainly due to resistance from a section of doctors practising general medicine.
“Doctors trained in family medicine are expected to work at primary health centres and community health centres and address the needs of the community surrounding them. Those practising general medicine come at the next level, and medical colleges are supposed to function as referral units. However, general medicine doctors are apprehensive that strengthening a system around family medicine will hit their private practice,” a senior doctor added.
There is a need to give prominence to MD course in family medicine as this medical speciality devoted to comprehensive health care for people of all ages.
This division of primary care provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body; family physicians are often primary care physicians. It is based on knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the community, emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion.
According to the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), the aim of family medicine is to provide personal, comprehensive, and continuing care for the individual in the context of the family and the community.The issues of values underlying this practice are usually known as primary care ethics.
Medical Dialogues has recently reported that there are total 48, 031 PG medical seats in the country in various broad specialities and super-speciality courses including MD, MS, DM, Mch, Diploma, as well as DNB and FNB courses.
Read Also: Total Count- 48031: Health Minister gives break up of PG Medical, SS seats to parliament
According to MCI, repeated memorandums were sent to the medical college authorities highlighting the existing issues at the institute, however, no response was received.
Recently, the medical council team had inspected the medical college premises only to assess the facility attached to the general medicine department. The authorities at the institute have applied for 2 to 7 seats in the family medicine department. In order to get approval for the PG medical course, the medical college needs to have 30 beds at the family medicine department.
Read Also: Shocker: Whooping 5,671 MD, MS seats vacant in 2019-20, states MCI BOG records
For this purpose, the institutional authorities have been advised by the apex medical council to improve the situation by the time of next inspection which is now scheduled to take place in July next year.
It is ironic that Kozhikode medical college is the first in the country to have the MD Family Medicine course. It had received the MCI approval in the year 2012 ,since then, however the medical college apparently failed to maintain the standards for imparting the course.
As of now, the Kerala Public Service Commission is yet to appoint permanent faculty to the family health department. The medical college only has an emeritus professor, a professor transferred from another department on deputation, and a temporary assistant professor as staffers in the department, apart from junior and senior resident doctors. There are no nurses or paramedical staff.
Speaking about the reasons as to why the department has been overlooked, a former professor at the medical college told The Hindu that the concept of family medicine had been neglected mainly due to resistance from a section of doctors practising general medicine.
“Doctors trained in family medicine are expected to work at primary health centres and community health centres and address the needs of the community surrounding them. Those practising general medicine come at the next level, and medical colleges are supposed to function as referral units. However, general medicine doctors are apprehensive that strengthening a system around family medicine will hit their private practice,” a senior doctor added.
There is a need to give prominence to MD course in family medicine as this medical speciality devoted to comprehensive health care for people of all ages.
This division of primary care provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body; family physicians are often primary care physicians. It is based on knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the community, emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion.
According to the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), the aim of family medicine is to provide personal, comprehensive, and continuing care for the individual in the context of the family and the community.The issues of values underlying this practice are usually known as primary care ethics.
Medical Dialogues has recently reported that there are total 48, 031 PG medical seats in the country in various broad specialities and super-speciality courses including MD, MS, DM, Mch, Diploma, as well as DNB and FNB courses.
Read Also: Total Count- 48031: Health Minister gives break up of PG Medical, SS seats to parliament
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