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Three days after issuing circular to hospitals to conduct two-finger test on rape victims and facing criticism, the Delhi government decided to revoke it on Monday. Speaking at the Delhi secretariat, Health Minister Satyendra Jain said the government had decided to completely ban the two-finger test on rape victims. “Now two finger test is completely banned for sexual assault victims in Delhi. We are issuing a new notification in this connection today,” he said, adding the 14-page-circular was misinterpreted. The circular was issued to hospitals on May 29 stating that Per Vaginal (PV) examination, also referred to as ‘two-finger test’, for rape survivors can be conducted with their consent. A PV test involves insertion of finger into the rape survivor’s private parts for assessment of internal injuries, use of force if any, noting any discharge and gathering of sample among others. Jain said the advisory (on two-finger test) was circulated on the basis of an expert comm...

The health ministry is planning an exit exam for MBBS students passing out of government as well as private medical colleges.  The move comes in the wake of concerns over the quality of doctors being produced in the country. Initially, the government intends to create a separate 'all-India chapter' for doctors qualifying the exit exam. Doctors currently get themselves registered with the state chapter of Medical Council of India (MCI) and have to get their registration transferred if they intend to practice in another state. Those clearing the exit exam will be able to practice anywhere in the country. Eventually, students not passing the exit exam could even be held back from post-graduate studies, an official source privy to the developments told TOI. The draft proposal prepared by the ministry suggests using the existing Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) as a voluntary exit exam. FMGE, a screening test recognized by the MCI, was introduced in 20...

MJA's editorial board have written to Australian Medical Journal president Brian Owler to review the decision to appoint Elsevier.  Photo: Andrew Meares All but one member of the editorial advisory committee for Australia's top medical journal have resigned following the sacking of its eminent editor.  Stephen Leeder, an emeritus professor of public health at the University of Sydney and chair of the Western Sydney Local Health District Board, was sacked as editor of the prestigious Medical Journal of Australia after he raised concerns about a decision by the journal's publisher AMPCo to outsource the journal's production to Elsevier. AMPCo is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Australian Medical Association. Professor Leeder said he was "bereaved" by his departure from the MJA, but said that working with Elsevier was "beyond the reach of my ethical tolerance". Leading doctors from...

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Involving a long and gruelling stint of study to qualify and everyday exposure to human pain and suffering, the practice of medicine is perhaps one of the last you could expect to serve as a base for comedy. But it is the saving grace of humanity that it too has people capable of seeing — and sharing — the funny side of their life. Like this doctor who found greater fame with his uproariously comic series of books centred on his profession. Richard Gordon Though doctors too have left a mark on literature — Anton Chekhov, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mikhail Bulgakov, A J Cronin, Khaled “The Kite Runner” Hosseini, W Somerset Maugham to name some — comedy has not been common. Making up the deficiency is Richard Gordon (actually Dr Gordon Ostlere (1921-), with his long-running “Doctor” series and their array of film, stage, TV and radio adaptions. (His only companion in the genre is possibly H Richard Hornberger or “Richard Hooker” (1924-1997) of “M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army ...

A rising number of people under the age of 40 are suffering from cervical spondylosis because they don't exercise enough and spend too much time in front of their computer screens. PG aspirants have to read continuously for hours at a stretch either in their room or library. Many of them complain of neck pain and headache, little knowing that these could be early symptoms of cervical spondylosis. We present an interesting article which gives a bird's eye view of this problem and how it can be prevented.  In early February, 32-year-old Swati Shial was diagnosed with cervical spondylosis, a degenerative weakening of the spinal disc usually triggered by an incorrect posture or by overusing neck muscles.  As an account director with a media agency, Shial easily spends more than 10 hours working on a laptop six days a week. The mind-numbing neck pain began while she was working on a crucial presentation that led her to stay glued to her laptop for three consecutive ...