Changes in MBBS course puts doctors in a dilemma

An eight-member committee of medical experts has recommended several changes in the MBBS course curriculum. The committee has suggested that the Medical Council of India (MCI) restructure the course and the duration of the undergraduate medical programme.
Currently, the MBBS course is of four and a half year in addition to one-year internship. If the recommendations are accepted, the duration of MBBS course, in the future, will be of four years along with an internship of one year. In addition, a six-month elective course will be introduced at the end.
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Dearth of corpses is hampering medical education in the state of ODISHA.

BHUBANESWAR

Cadaver crisis affects state med colleges

March 11, 2011

BHUBANESWAR: Dearth of corpses is hampering medical education in the state. A proposed amendment by the department of medical education to change the Orissa Anatomy Act to facilitate body donations and reduce shortage of corpses has been pushed to the back burner. At present, the Orissa Anatomy Act 1975 has no provisions to facilitate pledging of bodies for medical research or donation of bodies by the relatives of a deceased person, unlike most other states. The Act...

New medical syllabus to stress practical skills

March 20, 2011

Medical education in India is all set for a massive overhaul. Medical Council of India (MCI) is close to finalising a brand new curriculum for both undergraduate (UG) and post-graduate (PG) medical education that gives utmost importance to "clinical acumen rather than just theoretical knowledge".
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Health Ministry for driving licence to indicate desire to donate organ

March 07, 2011

If the Union Health Ministry has its way, driver’s licences will indicate if the holder wants to donate organs after death.
In an ambitious plan to decrease the gap between the demand and supply of organs, the government is considering earmarking a designated space, indicating “donor”, on the driving licence.

The idea, officials say, will soon be communicated to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

The ministry has got a sample driving licence from the US so that the same design and matter could be replicated here.

“At least, the intention of a dying person will be known to doctors, who can thereafter convince the family,” said a senior ministry official.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/health-ministry-for-driving-licence-to-indicate-desire-to-donate-organ/746991/0

MCI planning entrance to enhance credibility quotient

India is mulling over a proposal to introduce the Indian Medical Graduate degree -- an examination that will be at par with MBBS -- which can be taken by all doctors passing out of medical school as an additional qualification.Read more at.....http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-02/india/28646536_1_mbbs-medical-colleges-mci

Government to push doctors to prescribe generics .

Given the huge price difference between branded drugs and their generic versions, the government is mulling a policy to push doctors to prescribe drugs by their generic names rather than brand names.

"Branded drugs are not innovative. The poor can ill afford them," said Srikant Jena, minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers.

Jena said the recommendations will be prepared and presented to a group of ministers (GoM) on Friday. He was speaking on the sidelines of the India Pharma Summit 2010 in Mumbai, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in partnership with the Department of Pharmaceuticals.

Jena maintained that almost all common drugs, which were off patent, were available in their generic forms at almost all pharmacies and chemist stores in the country. "The state governments have been informed to ask doctors to prescribe generic drugs to cater to the needs of the poor who cannot afford the exorbitant prices of branded drugs," he added.

The government has been contemplating such a move for some time now. It is no secret that the cost of the branded versions of some widely used drugs are five to seven times the price of their generic counterparts. For example, Ciprofloxacin, a drug used for infections, is available for Rs 55 per tablet, five times the price of its generic version, which costs about Rs 11. Similarly, the generic version of Cetrizine, used to treat allergies, costs Rs 2.75 per tablet, compared to Rs 20 for the branded version.

The minister also said that the government is scrutinising and will review its essential drugs list, which currently includes 350 to 400 medications. These are drugs that are widely used and made easily available at affordable prices. He added that the government will soon regulate the prices of cancer drugs, which was a major point of discussion at a recent parliamentary meeting. Recently, the government is said to have been in talks with drug manufacturers for sourcing medicines to treat cancer at affordable rates. Jena explained that these drugs would be sold at its low-cost pharmacy chain Jan Aushadhi, which has stores across the country. Indian pharma major Cipla Ltd has also been in discussions with the Department of Pharmaceuticals to share the technological know-how for cancer drugs with state-owned companies.
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Doctors cannot run private hospitals or nursing homes at their residential premises.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday ruled doctors cannot run private hospitals or nursing homes at their residential premises. They can, however, set up consultation clinics in residential areas, a Division Bench comprising Justice Sunil Ambawani and Justice Kashi Nath Pandey said.

Dismissing a bunch of writ petitions filed by doctors from Etawah district, it said the Constituion which provides every citizen of the country the right to livelihood also empowers governments to impose "reasonable restrictions".

The Court observed running private hospitals or nursing homes in residential premises amounted to violation of the provisions under which land was allotted to doctors.

However, doctors could set up clinics for providing medical consultation at their residential premises, the Bench said.

The Etawah doctors had challenged the order of the Awas Vikas Parishad and the District Chief Medical Officer asking them to wind up nursing homes functioning from their houses. Read more.......
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Docs-cannot-run-hospitals-at-residences-HC/Article1-574734.aspx