Wanted: Fewer doctors, better medical colleges

MUMBAI: The rush to get admissions tomedical colleges in Maharashtra, despite their exorbitant fees, has surprisedexperts because there is a glut of doctors in the state. Accordingto the norms of the World Health Organisation, there should be one doctor perpopulation of 3,500 people. In Maharashtra, there is one doctor for every 760people, said Ravi Bapat, vice-chancellor of the Maharashtra University of HealthSciences, Nasik. “I wouldn’t advise an average studentto spend his or her parents’ lifetime earnings on medical education.Besides, it takes a very long time for a doctor to complete his studies andsettle down. And it is expensive to set up private practice,’’ saidArchan Abhyankar, a Mumbai-trained MD now working in a Singapore hospital.There is also a glut of medical colleges and the government isadding to the problem by allowing more medical colleges to open without anyscrutiny, a bureaucrat said. After some time we may find medical college seatsgoing abegging, as is happening in engineering colleges, a doctor said.A number of ayurveda and homoeopathy colleges in Maharashtra arebelow standard, according to a study by the health sciences university. Only oneayurveda hospital out of 52 was found to be of good standard, while seven wereranked ‘four’ on a scale of one to four,with four being the lowest.Of 42 homoeopathy colleges, 12 were ranked ‘three’ and24 ‘one’. Generally, MBBS degree colleges and dental colleges are ofa higher standard, but even they face a serious shortage of teachers, becausethere is a glut of medical institutions in the state.Anna Dange, aformer BJP minister, recently complained that a college started by him in Sanglidistrict was left with few teachers after another college opened in the area.Sources said that parents are very careful about choosing a kindergarten orschool for their children, but do not bother to find out if a medical college inMumbai or rural Maharashtra is recognised and has the basic requirements.“It is strange to find parents sinking lakhs of rupees intomedical education, without bothering to check the students’prospects,’’ said Dr Arvind Godbole, a medical practitioner in thecity. The health sciences university is now sending a team to all187 medical institutions in the state to study their infrastructure andfacilities. The number of ayurveda and homoeopathy colleges in the state is muchhigher than that of MBBS colleges and most of the public health system is in thehands of non-allopaths. While the standard of some private collegesis questionable, there are some centres of excellence, like the Krishna MedicalCollege and Hospital at Karad and institutions at Warnanagar and Nasik that arealso of great help to the rural population, sources said. Medicalcolleges have come up mainly in developed areas, particularly in Mumbai, Pune,Nagpur, Kolhapur and Ahmednagar, while there is not a single medical college inthe relatively undeveloped districts of Hingoli, Washim, Bhandara, Gadchiroliand Jalna.