PG Times

By Dr Jimmy Mathew It was 2006. I had become a Plastic Surgeon. After four and a half years of MBBS, I did One year of that rotating slave work called internship. Then three years of surgical residency at JIPMER. I had done eighty to hundred hours of work per week in those years, and I didnt know what a weekend really was. Of course, I knew drunken nights, and smoked for two years during that period, and my eating habits were the worst in the world. Have no doubts- my arteries were hardened, head baldened and a little of the nicer part of my predisposition erased permanently. Three more years of mostly assisting, retracting, dressing wounds, taking calls and pointlessly sleepless nights made me A Plastic Surgeon. Now I had a wife and a daughter. No weekends. It was immediately after that I joined a well known private hospital as the third person in the Plastic Surgery team. I was offered thirty thousand rupees a month. I accepted. The centre was very busy and well known for m...

Sameera Jahagirdar says MBBS textbooks continue to ‘criminalise’ a transgender Sameera M. Jahagirdar is now going to take her fight for the rights of LGBT+ to the Medical Council of India, which has not yet recognised the need to restructure the MBBS curriculum in which the textbooks continue to criminalise a transgender or a homosexual or anyone who does not fall within the two-gender sexual orientations of society. Her journey as a woman trapped in a man’s body and taking up the medical profession to unravel the biological enigma of the human body was one of continuous trauma. The fight within herself to realise her sexual orientation leading later to gender identity and with society’s unrelenting stand on homosexuality and transgender was too much to handle as she had no one to talk to about what she was going through. “I used to internalise everything that it damaged my psyche,” said Dr. Jahagirdar, Assistant Professor, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Mahatm...

Last year too, the fee was hiked by 15% in private colleges and minority institutions Students enrolling in postgraduate courses in private medical colleges may have to cough up a higher fee from the coming academic year as the government is likely to increase the fees by about 15%. The hike is expected to be applicable to the government quota as well as the institutional quota seats in private medical colleges. Medical Education Minister K.Sudhakar said that senior officials of the Medical Education Department had formed a committee and had conducted several meetings with different medical college associations and recommended a hike. “The State government will, however, take a call on the matter. I am likely to receive this file next week and take a call after studying the recommendations of the committee’s report,” he said. He added that he would meet with Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and seek his advice on the matter. ‘Steep hikes’ But students say that ...

The State Government on Tuesday hiked the stipend for doctors pursuing Pre and Para-Clinical Post Graduation courses in Government-run Medical College and Hospitals. As per the decision, stipend has been increased to Rs 48,302 from Rs 39,950 for first year students, Rs 50,658 for second year and Rs 53,014 for third year, respectively. “The CM has approved financial incentive of Rs 18,000 per month for doctors pursuing Pre and Para-Clinical Post Graduation courses in Govt Medical Colleges. Both In-service& Direct PG students will get incentive over & above their salary & stipend respectively,” said Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena in a press release. “Incentive will encourage more students to take up Pre and Para Clinical disciplines as Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, FMT, Pathology, Microbiology & Community Medicine and lead to filling up of vacant posts in Government services,” the Minister added. The State Government had earl...

In its recently revised guidelines, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has enhanced the upper age limit for appointment to senior residentship from 33 to 40 years. Some doctors have, however, pointed out that some Central and autonomous medical institutions have still not implemented these guidelines. In a letter written to the Health Minister on December 25, 2017, the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA), an umbrella body of resident doctors, pointed out that the guidelines have been implemented in Delhi government institutions but the not in Institutions such as AIIMS and PGI, Chandigarh. "Implementation of the 40 year age criteria for senior residents will help in filling up the posts lying vacant in our medical institutions. In addition to this, various state governments have rural service bonds after MBBS and some have service bonds after post-graduation as well. Many doctors are well above the age of 33 years when they complete the compulsory posti...

By Dr. Amrinder Bajaj The writer is Unit Head, obstetrics and gynaecology, Max Shalimar Bagh and Pitampura. First Fortis, then Max and now BL Kapoor Hospital have fallen prey to slander. All three hospitals serve thousands of patients everyday in Delhi and NCR. The latest video doing the rounds is of Bobby Kataria and his mob laying siege to Balaji Action Hospital – 1.9 million FB views in 48 hours – to exploit the death of a six-day-old baby, probably for political gains. Hospitals have become arenas for populist political battles where slogans and protests, threats and abuses are hurled at random. They are ignited and stoked by an irresponsible section of media that sensationalises without verifying facts. Much hue and cry was made of the ‘live baby’ wrapped callously in a plastic bag at Max Shalimar Bagh when it was a mere five months (22 weeks) old fetus that had negligible chances of survival. Such fetuses can go into a state of suspended animation for a varying period...

The National Board of Examinations (NBE), regulatory body for postgraduate medical education, has removed its executive director Bipin Batra for allegedly occupying the post in violation of rules. The move comes in the wake of allegations of irregularities, lack of transparency and malfunctioning of the NBE administration, with the latest being charges of malpractices in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). The autonomous body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in a meeting here yesterday, also ordered an inquiry into various charges of irregularities against Batra. “Bipin Batra shall cease to discharge the functions of executive director, NBE, with immediate effect,” said a draft resolution adopted by the board. It also said Rashmikant Dave, vice president, NBE has been appointed honorary executive director till a regular appointment is made to the post in compliance with rules. NBE president Abhijat Sheth, when contacted by PTI, ...