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Asserting that the quality of medical education is a major concern, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Saturday said a credible regulatory and institutional mechanism must be put in place to help develop standards in medical education. "The quality of medical education is another concern. There is a perception of deteriorating quality. We cannot allow this situation to continue or to persist. We must put in place a credible regulatory and institutional mechanism to help develop standards in our medical education," said Dr. Singh, while speaking at the third convocation of Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry. "We also need to take a serious look at the curriculum for medical education so that doctors are trained to look at health in a truly holistic manner, and that it goes beyond a narrow clinical and technology-driven approach. Students training to be doctors have to be prepared to work with local communities and in our villages. They should be sensitised to the social determinants of health and be as willing to contribute to preventive healthcare and its management as the more lucrative curative systems," he added. Stating that as science and society evolve rapidly in the 21st century, Dr. Singh said: "The education of health professionals too must be transformed in precept and practice. Interdisciplinary learning and health system connectivity should, therefore, become the hallmarks of contemporary medical education. Apart from the study of health and disease, knowledge of health economics, ethics, patient rights, behaviour change communication and information technology should inform and influence the design and delivery of our health care systems." "Effective health care involves a truly multi-layered workforce working cohesively as a team rather than as individuals acting in a disconnected manner. Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals such as paramedics and technicians as well as community health workers should, therefore, acquire, even during their training, the skills of working together in community or hospital settings," he added. Dr. Singh said medical education should accordingly be reconfigured to produce a technically competent, socially sensitive, ethically correct and ready to serve health professional who can respond to the diverse demands of India's growing health needs. "False hierarchies should be shunned. Mutual respect and a sense of shared responsibility should form the basis of effective teamwork. I am sure that an institution such as JIPMER will lead and show us the way in developing innovative models of inter-professional education and non-hierarchical medical practice," he added. Dr. Singh further said the Medical Council of India is in the process of revising the MBBS curriculum and incorporating training in Community Medicine at all levels. "The Central Government has taken several steps to strengthen medical education in our country. The number of undergraduate and postgraduate seats has been greatly increased in the last three years. The Medical Council of India norms have been rationalised and new medical colleges have been opened all over the country," said Dr. Singh. "The Union Health Ministry is taking measures to set up new medical colleges particularly in under-served regions. Under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, construction of 6 AIIMS-like institutions at Bhopal , Bhubaneswar , Jodhpur , Patna , Raipur and Rishikesh is in full swing. The medical colleges are expected to be functional from the academic session 2012-13 and the hospitals by 2013-14," he added. Dr. Singh also mentioned that the health indicators continue to be poor and high mortality rates of infants and pregnant women have been a cause of serious concern. "Despite decades of implementing health and family welfare programmes, we are still faced with a situation where two thirds of health expenditure is borne by people from out of their pockets. A very large proportion of this expenditure is on purchase of drugs," he added. Stating that the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has shown that health indicators can be improved with concerted focus on public health systems at primary and secondary levels, Dr. Singh said: "Our Government has decided to continue the National Rural Health Mission for the next five years. We are now proposing a new National Urban Health Mission in order to focus on the health challenges in our towns and our cities."

Manmohan Singh calls for developing medical education standards