EDITORIAL: It is one big scandal involving medical education. Some 366 alumni of private medical institutions are reported to have completed post-graduate (PG) training and another 107 house-job at the government-run Services Hospital in Lahore.
This has gone on in violation of the rules that say only doctors from government hospitals are eligible for selection under the Central Induction Policy for postgraduate training, based on merit, as defined in the Punjab Residency Programme and notified by the health department.
These illegal inductees also received BSP-17 stipends, while enrolled in post-graduate programmes at private institutions, raising disturbing questions about the affairs of private sector medical education.
Some professors and heads of different departments at the Services Hospital are said to be implicated in this illegal practice. And that the Young Doctors Association was also behind the unauthorised induction of doctors from private medical institutions into the training programme as well as getting house job facility for others. But none of this could have happened had the regularity authority, the College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP), put its foot down.
On the contrary, it has allowed the vested interests to have their way. As it turns out, all the illegal inductions were made on its recommendation. A press report quotes a senior health official raising the right question: “Why has the CPSP failed so far in providing postgraduate training to the doctors of private institutions in their respective health facilities despite charging hefty amounts of fees from them for various things, including PG training?” For that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the regulator for medical education and practice, has also some explaining to do.
It has been awarding accreditation to private institutions without ensuring they fulfilled essential requirements, especially that of a properly functional hospital. Their graduates are not to blame if they look for opportunities in public sector hospitals to have better experience and certificates for it to hold them in good stead in professional life.
An investigation into the blatant violations of the rules is underway. Those responsible must be held to account. Meanwhile, the CPSP needs to revisit its policy and select candidates for PG training on the basis of open merit, so that the best candidates get to enhance their qualifications.
All concerned, the health department, the CPSP and PMDC, must see to it that all private medical colleges meet the essential infrastructure requirements and also hire well-qualified professionals for teaching post-graduate classes to stay in the business. Failure to do so should mean withdrawal of accreditation. Only that can impel their owners to make the necessary improvements in the standard of education they offer to aspiring medical practitioners.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024