Dr Ketan Desai at MCI shows the way

With a distinction of being the world’s largest trained manpower in healthcare, medical education in India has significantly improved in the qualitative terms also. The credit for this goes to a large extent to the apex body of the medical education in the country, Medical Council of India. Ever since Dr Ketan Desai has been at the helm of the MCI as its president, the Council is also working to further standardize the curriculum of medical education which is not only expected to be catering to the national needs but also cater to the global needs.

Dr Ketan Desai, President, MCI has been repeatedly taking initiatives so that the Council incorporates the global needs in the ambit. All due to the excellence in performing the role of the medical education watchdog, India today has the distinction of being the single largest producer of trained health manpower in the entire Globe. With 299 medical colleges in operation as of now with annual intake capacity of approximately 33,000 for the M.B.B.S. Courses, in terms of the number it is the largest producer of the trained health manpower when interpolated against the facts that even the United States of America, has only 152 medical schools as on date.

This is only considering allopathic medicine. When we consider Ayurved and other systems, the number gets even larger. However, the respective governments never seem to have made it a priority sector. Medical education per-se has never been construed as a priority in any of the budget making exercises of either the Central or State Governments and therefore to that extent the annual budget of the financial year 2009-2010 does not make any exception.

It needs to be borne in mind that ultimately medical education is the platform from where the trained health manpower is expected to be generated. The efficacy and efficiency of this trained health manpower therefore is directly proportional to the standardized sustenance of medical education. If the necessary requirements of medical education in the context of ‘developmental grants’ are not met with, the desired standards would not be attainable. This will result in the compromised generation of the health manpower, which is suicidal. The Medical Council of India under Dr Ketan Desai can only pave the way; the onus of excellence in the medical education ultimately falls in the power corridors.