The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and the Medical Council of India are giving final touches to major reforms in the MBBS curriculum with an emphasis on thinning down courses for undergraduate medical students.
“We have already prepared a draft curriculum for MBBS programmes. Currently, the draft curriculum is being assessed by experts. We will also seek public opinion on reforms to be adopted in the MBBS programme,” said Director General of Health Services Jagdish Prasad here over the weekend.
Region-specific ailments
Dr. Prasad, who was speaking on the campus of the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, said the course orientation would be to skill students in handling common diseases in their surroundings, especially addressing region-specific ailments. “Students will no more study bulky books. Courses will be much easier to comprehend. At present, an undergraduate student is required to acquire knowledge on 10 types of surgeries, which is not necessary. They can master the skill while specialising in the stream,” he said, adding that, “We hope the new curriculum will be ready for medical students within next 18 months.”
Vernacular language
Dr. Prasad, who had served as principal of medical colleges for several years, said the directorate has also mooted introduction of vernacular language as medium of studies in MBBS programmes.
“After admission in MBBS programme, many students usually do not understand subjects which are taught in English. In some colleges, crash courses on English are also offered so that students would have better comprehension of subjects,” he said.
Stating that vernacular languages as medium of studies would have been better choice, Dr. Prasad said: “We are facing shortage of writers to translate subjects available in English into vernacular languages. In Japan, medical courses are available in Japanese language. They were able to do it as they have one language. In India, we have so many languages. But we are contemplating to give it a try.”
New leprosy cases
He expressed concerns over incidences of leprosy in Odisha. “It is unfortunate that Odisha still has sizeable number of leprosy patients. We had started complete leprosy eradication programme in the country. After implementation of the programme for years, now 40,000 new cases have been detected during recent door-to-door survey of 40 crore houses. In Odisha, there are 5,100 new leprosy patients.”
