Doctors In Emergency: The Crucified Need for MBBS Abroad

The requirement of medically trained professionals in a developing country such as India, is extremely unfortunate but is certainly not something that has emerged out of the blue as a consequence of the pandemic and caught the country by surprise. Instead, against the popular belief, India is facing a huge shortage of doctors for several decades in a row.

 

The Pre-Pandemic Overview At The Health Infrastructure Of The Country

On a reference, data from 2012 shows that the 4 major states with the highest requirement of doctors were Chhattisgarh (71%), West Bengal (44%), Maharashtra (37%) and Uttar Pradesh (36%). As of March 2011, in India’s government hospitals there was a vacancy of 39% of medical specialists, 56% surgeons, 47% gynaecologists, 59% physicians and 49% paediatricians. The numbers are certainly worrisome and have potentially increased by several folds in the last few decades.

 

Another data of 2019 implies a shortage of 600,000 doctors in India along with 2 million nurses. As of 2019, there were only 16% of the surgeons (approximately 5000) currently serving in the hospitals implying the 84% shortage of surgeons alone in the country. All this the pre-covid data showcasing the health infrastructure of the country. In contrast, there were at least 50,000 doctors who have studied MBBS in abroad and another 80,000 nurses and other trained staff who have studied abroad and are on the waiting list to practice in India.

 

The data was always present in the hind-sights but rarely addressed as a major issue. Probably this is the reason which has caused the unearthing of the healthcare system in the country during the period of the concern.

 

A Glance At The Future From The Lense Of Present

The past few months have been extremely difficult for all the individuals associated with the medical profession, either directly or indirectly. This brought this raging concern of shortage of medical doctors in India into the lime-light. Several discussions were held among the major stake-holders and decision makers time and again, successfully raising the awareness. As the saying goes, acknowledging the problems is the first step towards solving it. It has not been the case when it comes to tackling the shortage of medically skilled staff in the hospitals and nursing homes of the country.

 

For the immediate measure at the time of crisis, many states of India have extended the retirement age of their senior doctors. Recently, Jharkhand extending the retirement of its 60 doctors made the headlines of the daily. But Jharkhand is not the only one. In this wagon to increase the retirement age, several states like Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, etc have also joined.

 

Such steps only provide short-term alternatives to the problem rather than long-term solutions. A lot of senior doctors, who are of retirement age but were working during the covid emergency hike have unfortunately fallen as the victims and sufferings. This also hinders the way for the new generation of doctors. So, extending the retirement of the doctors is a solution but is seemingly a step-out way to face the concern but certainly not a solution.

 

If we are dependent on only this step to strengthen the health infrastructure of the country, for the long term, it will surely hamper the quality of medical facilities of the country.

 

On the other hand, about 18048 students who have completed their MBBS Abroad and had appeared in the FMGE 2021 (Foreign Medical Graduate Exam) 4,283 students have qualified for the exam and now can practice in India. This means that at present there are about 20,000 young doctors available at hand in the country which can be a huge bank of skills at this time of crisis.

 

Examining the ‘Solutions’

 

The many experts working in the field have suggested quite a few solutions like establishing more medical training institutions in the country, investing in the healthcare industry, providing a more favourable working environment for the doctors, nurses, etc. All these solutions in general are, although very effective, but can only give results, not before a decade.

 

For the quick fix solution for this issue and about preparing the country to tackle the solution better in the upcoming third wave, Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty is of the view that only availing the materialistic requirement like beds, ventilators, oxygen will be completely useless until and unless there is a well-trained staff to use them. Therefore, India needs at least 80,000 doctors and nurses, and others on an immediate basis.

 

But where can one find such a huge number of medically trained staff?

 

For this issue, Dr. Shetty is of the opinion to use the students who have completed their MBBS Abroad. The students, commonly referred to as the Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) are well trained with all the necessary skills. But the trouble lies in the procedures for letting them work in their own country.

 

Every year with thousands of students choosing to study MBBS abroad, there is a huge bank of well-trained professionals which can help India to improve its health infrastructure. However, due to the lack of security and options to join the mainstream, a huge percentage of students who have studied MBBS abroad are migrating to other countries and letting their skill make their own name there.

 

The graduates of MBBS Abroad can surely provide the ‘quick-fix’ to the healing medical facilities of the country but it requires efforts from the state and union government by giving some relaxation on the qualifying score for FMGE and creating opportunities encouraging these graduates of MBBS abroad to actively participate in the mainstream medical practices.