Kerala: Students object to transfer of professors

Kozhikode: The Students Union of Government Medical College (GMC), Kozhikode has taken the transfer of teachers from their college to Manjeri Medical College for the upcoming Medical Council of India(MCI), inspection quite seriously. The union plans to hold a meeting with the college authorities,about faculty transfer, in order to resolve the issue of falling standards of medical education. If no solutions are found, the Union also plans to launch an agitation. The Student body has accused the Department of Medical Education(DME), for trying to fool the apex regulator, by temporarily positioning professors for the college’s inspection. It has also complained about falling standards of medical education at the institution.

In a written communication to the apex body, the Student’s Union stated that the professor transfer took place on the 3^rd of March, and complained of adverse affects of the move on GMC, Kozhikode’s academic prospects and also patient care at the hospital.

The General Secretary Students' Union, Rahul Raj P.D. said on Sunday, that the shift of faculty from their college to Manjeri was being done to convince the medical education regulator, of prevalence of adequate staff at MMC.

“Medical knowledge is not something students can acquire by themselves. It requires the guidance and the teaching enthusiasm of experienced doctors. According to the statistics, Kozhikode Medical College continues to be one of the busiest in the State. With this new order, the Directorate of Medical Education seems to either ignore or forget this fact,” the mail said.

“Departments such as anatomy, ophthalmology, medicine, pathology surgery, ENT, pharmacology, forensic medicine, physiology, and biochemistry remain understaffed. Teachers take up additional hours of work to compensate for the work load. The medical college and the staff are under a lot of emotional and physical stress.”

Speaking about the deteriorating medical education standards, the union communiqué stated:“Kozhikode boasts a student strength of 250 for the undergraduate course. With this number, there is a huge responsibility for the staff to introduce the plethora of resources available at our college to the students. Understaffed departments and frustrated professors make this impossible, ” reports the Hindu.