Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 12: The students of MBBS and intern doctors here joined the nation-wide agitation against the proposal of Medical Council of India (MCI) for increasing the duration of the MBBS course from the existing 5.5 years to 6.5 years with the addition of a compulsory one-year rural posting for admission into Post-Graduate (PG) courses.
On the third consecutive day today, hundreds of students pursuing MBBS at Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu along with intern doctors carrying placards “Save the Lives of Life Savers” and “7.5 years MBBS=Death Sentence” assembled in front of the OPD at GMC and raised slogans against the MCI ruling.
The students demanded rollback of MCI order dated November 28, 2013, which states that students after 12th class would have to undergo 4.5 years of MBBS course in addition to 2 years of internship and 1 year rural posting would be mandatory for them before they are eligible to pursue PG.
The protestors first held a rally in the GMC premises and later marched towards Super-Specialty Hospital (SSH), where they also protested for a couple of hours.
The students claimed that the decision would affect the quality of the services delivered by the doctors as it would affect the socio-psychological health of the doctors.
The decision would also prove to be discouraging for the future medical aspirants who want to pursue medical career, they added.
“We are not against rural postings, but we want the one-year rural internship to be included as a part of our curriculum either during the MBBS course or at the post- graduate stage”, the protesting students demanded.
They further stated that the doctors are not against the volunteer rural posting, but making it mandatory would prove to be a big problem in functioning of the doctors.
They added that the Public Health Centers (PHC) in the rural areas should first have proper infrastructure and regular supply of medicines and other aiding equipment.
The protesting students also pointed towards the security of the doctors in rural areas and since majority of them consist of women, the protest is justified.
Meanwhile, hundreds of students pursuing MBBS from ASCOMS, Sidhra also held protest and demanded roll-back of the MCI ruling for increasing the MBBS course from 5.5 years to 7.5 years.
One of the protesting student alleged that by extending the duration of the course, Government is spoiling the career of the students, who opt to go for MBBS course as no student will like to become a doctor this way as it will consume his whole life.
He demanded immediate rollback of the MCI ruling for the convenience of the youth, who opt to purse their career in medical and serve the humanity.
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