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Postpone NEET-PG Exam: IMA urges Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

by Vaishali Sharma
written by Vaishali Sharma

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has urged Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to postpone the NEET-PG test, which is set to take place on May 21.

The IMA in its letter to the Health Minister on Wednesday said, “The NEET-PG 2021 was held five months after the scheduled date in the month of September 2021. Then the counselling scheduled to begin from October 25, 2021, was also initiated (in January 2022) after a delay due to a pending decision on seat reservations and was further delayed owing to the Supreme Court ruling of March 31, 2022, which ordered cancellation and conduct of special round of counselling for the mop-up round.” “As a result of the delayed counselling schedule, NEET PG 2022 was deferred from April 2022 to May 2022, so that the candidates could appear for the final stray vacancy round of NEET PG 2021 and can still have plenty of time for preparation and reappearance for the next NEET PG 2022 exam if they failed to secure a seat this year. However, the AIQ Counselling anticipated to be completed by the end of March 2022, is still in process and is uncertain if it will end by May 7. The several States will also be finishing the counselling around the middle of May 2022,” it said.

The IMA stated that the time between the NEET PG 2022 test date and the end of AIQ counselling for NEET PG 2021 is too short for a candidate to study and appear for such an incredibly challenging exam as NEET-PG.

“Another innocent five to ten thousand interns, who served as COVID warriors during COVID-19 pandemic, are ineligible to appear for NEET-PG due to delay in completion of their final examination and consequently their internship beyond eligibility criteria set for the examination,” the IMA said.

Pointing out various scenarios and Supreme Court judgments on the timetable for postgraduate courses, the IMA stressed the need to defer NEET 2022 examinations as it “concerns career paths of lakhs of medical graduates”.

“Since the NEET PG 2022 examination date is 21st May 2022, we request your timely intervention and urgent consideration of postponement of the NEET PG 2022 for a reasonable period of time, so that, the current NEET PG 2021 aspirants have adequate time to prepare and appear for the upcoming NEET-PG 2022 examination and the eligibility of all interns is also ensured,” the IMA said.

“We are sure that the issue shall be dealt with urgency by granting the prayer as made herein above in larger academic and societal interest as a whole,” it further said.

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Medical Organisation NewsNational & International News

Medical students returning from Ukraine might being accommodated in Indian colleges, according to petition filed in SC

by Pragati Singh
written by Pragati Singh

NEW DELHI: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court, requesting that the Centre and others, as a one-time measure, allow medical students returning from Ukraine at Indian medical institutes with valid Indian or foreign degrees.

In the alternative, the plea requests that the Centre and states work with Ukrainian authorities to declare some seats in central, state, or private medical colleges as overseas campuses of Ukrainian institutes for the purpose of continuing studies as a one-time emergency measure until the war-torn east European country returns to normalcy.

The petition, submitted by two lawyers, shows the predicament of Indian students who have been forced to drop out of different courses, including medical degrees, at several Ukrainian universities.

It claims that it is unclear when normality will return to Ukraine or whether students will be able to finish their degrees.

“Petitioners are public-spirited persons and utterly disturbed by the plight of the medical students, compelled to return to India leaving their medical courses in various colleges and universities in Ukraine,” the plea says.

While hearing a petition regarding the evacuation of some Indian medical students stuck near the Ukraine-Romania border on March 4, the Supreme Court noted the Centre’s claim that it has already evacuated 17,000 Indian students from the war zone.

The court had requested the Centre to consider establishing a “online helpline” for parents and families of students trapped in Ukraine, as well as to inform the high courts not to take up the subject of student evacuation in order to avert a slew of new lawsuits.

 

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IMA News

FAIMA writes to Union Health Minister seeking counselling for Super Specialty Batch 2021

by Pragati Singh
written by Pragati Singh

FAIMA, a nationwide organisation of resident doctors’ groups, has written to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, requesting that the NEET super specialty batch of 2021 be counselled as soon as possible. This issue is now being litigated before the Supreme Court.

In December last year, resident physicians from medical institutions and hospitals throughout India went on strike, demanding that NEET-PG counselling be expedited, which finally began in January this year after several months of delay. The test, which is used to select post-graduate candidates for positions as junior residents, was guided by people who were already employed. Because the outgoing batch had gone but the fresh batch had not yet arrived, the delays had resulted in a one-third personnel shortfall.

Similarly, the super-speciality tests are the basis for selection of students who want to specialise in fields such as cardiac surgery or neurosurgery after their post-graduation. The test for the super-speciality batch of 2021, which was scheduled to be conducted in November last year, was finally held this January. However, the counselling process is in a lurch with a Supreme Court case pending on Tamil Nadu’s policy of reserving 50 per cent of its seats for in-service doctors of the state. This was, however, not mentioned in the information bulletin for the test.

“The new batch of NEET-SS 2021 is already six months later. Furthermore, the super specialisation residents who are currently working are overworked due to no new residents joining for the last year. Delaying NEET-SS 2021 counselling will result in further burnout of the already stretched workforce and compromise patient care,” FAIMA said in its letter.

 

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IMA News

Kerala IMA criticizes Centre’s decision to replace Hippocrate’s Oath

by Vaishali Sharma
written by Vaishali Sharma

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) state branch has spoken out against the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) proposal to replace the Hippocratic Oath with Charak Shapath during medical graduates’ convocation. It was stated that Charak Shapath was not created with contemporary medicine in mind.

“Such oaths shall follow an international outlook and it must be beyond the views of caste, race, gender and creed. The oath is meant for the betterment of human beings and it shall be suitable for modern science which promotes constant questioning and corrections, whereas the Charak Shapath is based on regionalism and it insists on aspects that hinder the personal freedom of woman patients, promotes superstition and not suitable for scientific methods,” said a joint statement by by IMA state president Dr Samuel Koshy and state secretary Dr Joseph Benaven.

“The IMA is concerned that the proposed oath will result in exclusion from the global community of modern medicine and it will drag the sector backward,” the statement added. The state branch demanded prompt action on the part of authorities to correct the wrong.

The suggestion for replacement was made during a recent meeting of NMC, the regulator for medical education and practices in the country. The minutes of the meeting said the oath during the white coat ceremony shall be ‘Maharishi Charak Shapath’ instead of Hippocratic Oath.

Hippocratic Oath is an ethical code for fresh medical graduates that is believed to have been written by ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. The World Medical Association (WMA) revised the oath and promoted it as the Declaration of Geneva in 1948. It outlines in concise terms the professional duties of physicians and affirms the ethical principles of the global medical profession.

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Medical Organisation News

AIIMS sought nod to study impact of Covid on bones

by Vaishali Sharma
written by Vaishali Sharma

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has submitted a proposal to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for approval of a multicentric study to investigate cases of Avascular Necrosis (AVN), or bone tissue death, among Covid patients from the second wave last year, which was caused primarily by steroid use and blood clots.

With institutions all around the nation reporting similar incidents, AIIMS-Delhi has treated more than 50 patients. Ten AVN patients had their hips replaced at Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai, while numerous other hospitals in Delhi, Mumbai, and other cities reported an average of ten instances.

The proposal for a multicentric study was submitted to ICMR by Dr Rajesh Malhotra, head of orthopaedics and chief of trauma centre at AIIMS. Regions like Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala, which reported high caseloads during the second wave, are expected to be covered.

“We need to study the clinical parameters, risk factors and prognostic factors. Region-wise, the data may differ, so we want to conduct a multiple-centric study. If ICMR (approves) our proposal for grant, they may recruit centres across India as per protocols to be part of the study,” Malhotra said.

“Primarily, there are two causes of AVN among such patients,” said Dr Pradeep Bhosale, director of arthritis and joint replacement surgery, Nanavati Hospital, Mumbai.

“It could be because of excessive use of steroids during Covid treatment or the inherent ability of Covid to cause blood clots, which disrupts the blood flow. Due to the excruciating pain and disability of the patient, many undergo hip replacement surgeries. Nearly 10 such AVN patients have undergone hip replacement in our hospital,” he said.

In the second wave, primarily caused by the Delta variant, many patients developed acute pneumonia requiring heavy doses of steroids as a life-saving drug. Among the 50 AVN cases in AIIMS, only 12 did not receive steroids during their Covid treatment and nearly 60 per cent were female. A total of five patients underwent hip replacement at the hospital.

“We have to understand if the steroids that were given to these patients were too early or late, duration of their treatment on steroids, and the amount of doses that were given. Also, how much is too much for such patients,” Malhotra said.

According to doctors, most of the recovered Covid patients diagnosed with AVN belong to the age group of 35-45 years. They say this could be because of higher vaccination coverage among the elderly by the time the second wave had set in, limiting their dependence on steroids.

AVN is not a new ailment and before Covid, cases were found due to smoking, alcoholism and steroid-use linked to other health conditions. In the case of Covid patients, orthopaedic surgeons point out that a pan-India study would be difficult in the absence of centralised data.

“Unlike in Western countries, where all statistics are maintained centrally, such data isn’t available in India. For post-Covid complications, patients go to different hospitals, so gathering such data for a wide study would be challenging,” said Dr Narayan Hulse, director, orthopaedic and joint replacement surgery, Fortis Hospital, Bengaluru. Hulse said he has treated four such AVN patients, the last in December 2021.

“It takes months for Covid-recovered patients to develop the symptoms of AVN. Maybe after a year, with more studies, we would get a clinical explanation,” said Dr Vijay Mohan, orthopaedic and joint replacement surgeon, and chairman of the academic forum of Kerala Orthopaedic Association.

In May 2021, Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai had published a research paper titled “Avascular necrosis as a part of long Covid-19” with three case studies. One of the main findings was that while patients generally take six months to a year to develop AVN post-steroid exposure, those it studied were “symptomatic and developed early AVN presentation at a mean of 58 days after Covid-19 diagnosis”.

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IMA News

IMA Prez called government to give free medical education

by Vaishali Sharma
written by Vaishali Sharma

On Friday, Khatiel Suresh Kudwa, president of the Indian Medical Education, Karnataka Chapter, said the government should give free medical education so that everyone in society has access to free or inexpensive healthcare.

According to Dr. Kudwa, the relationship between physicians and patients is deteriorating with each passing day as medical education becomes more commercialised.

Free medical education on merit basis could address this issue, he said. The ‘family doctor’ system wherein the physician was completely aware of health issues of patients, was on the wane, he said urging the government to take steps to promote the system.

Dr. Kudwa said the government spent more than the usual spend of 1.5% of the GDP on healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. This should continue on a par with other countries wherein governments spend over 10% of their GDP on healthcare. IMA, Dr. Kudwa said was striving to restore doctor-patient relationships by forming a district council comprising senior IMA members that provides continuous learning for doctors, arranges free medical check-up and treatment camps and arranging public health awareness programmes.

Dr. Kudwa said besides ensuring affordable healthcare, the government should check quacks to ensure a healthy society. There were 1.5 lakh estimated quacks in the country. Even after amendment to the Karnataka Private Doctors Regulation Act in 2017, the punishment for quacks was negligible, he said urging the government to ensure stringent action against such persons.

IMA-Mangaluru president Satyamoorthy Aital, Secretary Sadananda Poojary, Treasurer G.K. Bhat, State Vice-President K.R. Kamath and others were present.

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FORDA

NEET PG 2021: Doctors call for nationwide strike on postponement of counselling

by Vaishali Sharma
written by Vaishali Sharma

The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) has proposed a statewide strike starting on Saturday in protest of continuous delays and postponements of National Eligibility Entrance Test postgraduate (NEET PG) counselling 2021. (November 27). According to the announcement, FORDA has demanded that all resident doctors countrywide withdraw from Out Patient Department (OPD) services as of Saturday.

According to FORDA, “The already overburdened and exhausted Resident Doctors of the nation fighting at the frontline since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, have been waiting patiently till date for some positive outcome of Supreme Court proceedings in the matter of already delayed NEET-PG 2021 counselling. However, there seems to be no respite to their physical and mental distress, with the next court hearing scheduled on 6th January 2022.”

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IMA
IMA News

Draft Bill Proposing 100% Central Allotment For State Medical Seats Opposed by IMA

by Vaishali Sharma
written by Vaishali Sharma

The IMA said on Monday that the draught Postgraduate Medical Education Regulation Bill, which proposes a 100 percent central allotment for state medical seats, is “against the autonomy and envisioned role of the states in working toward public health as a right of the citizens”.

According to the bill, all seats will be filled by the Centre and the states will have no role in it, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) pointed out. “India being a federal state, leaving the role of states in medical education will be disastrous,” it said, demanding that the existing system of admission and selection criteria must continue for the PG seats.

It also demanded that the National Medical Commission (NMC) withdraw the “anti-federal, anti-student, anti-democratic, anti-patient care and anti-public health draft bill”, try to initiate a dialogue with the stakeholders to understand the ground reality and do course correction to ensure uniform standards of education and a uniform pattern of the scale of pay, stipend and facilities provided to the interns, faculties and residents too.

In a statement, the IMA said the original Medical Council of India (MCI) was functioning with democratically-elected state representatives, who always voiced for the collective consciousness of state welfare. However, as the NMC is full of nominated people, it is slowly excluding all state governments from the administration of medical education.

As of date, the broad-specialty post-graduation course admission is carried out through PG-NEET and 50 per cent admission is done under the All-India quota by the DGHS and the remaining 50 per cent seats are admitted by the state governments.

But according to the draft regulation, “There shall be common counselling for admission in all medical educational institutions to all postgraduate broad-specialty courses (Diploma/MD/MS) on the basis of merit list of the National Exit Test and to all postgraduate super-specialty courses (DM/MCh) on the basis of merit list of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test”, the IMA pointed out.

It alleged that the NMC is still in a dilemma and has not given any clarity on the proposed NEXT exam. “However, this notification says, when a student writes his exam, the mark he scores will be valid for three years and he can rewrite the exam only after three years. This is a great injustice to the students. As it has proposed to conduct the NEXT exams in 2023, the NMC should come out with the pattern and type of examination after having wider democratic consultation with the students’ body, faculty, states and largest professional body IMA,” the statement read.

The IMA in principle welcomed the “district residency”, but said making it for a three-month period will result in overcrowding and impact the work in the medical college departments. Even for non-clinical postgraduates, spending three months in a district hospital will hamper the continuous theory and practical training, it said and demanded that the duration of the training period in the district hospitals be reduced to a month.

The revised proposals for certain broad-specialty courses to multiple super-specialty options have been drafted without due considerations of the students’ opinion and often changing it like this will create uncertainty and heartburn for the students preparing for the NEET SS exams, the statement said.

“Equally, the move to open up a dual degree in post-graduation and candidates doing simultaneous Ph.D are good to postulate, but in reality, will jeopardise the clinical acumen and involvement of the postgraduates’ inpatient care. “The NMC, which has been formed with great fanfare and promises, is now running into a non-performing body and playing the role of a silent spectator when the issues of interns, medical students and also the registered doctors are raised.

The NMC fails to respond to the death of 1,589 doctors in COVID-19 nor to issues of violence on doctors. However, they want to make inroads of mixopathy and centralising powers at the cost of the states,” the association said.

 

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IMA
IMA News

The IMA criticises the Andhra government’s decision to make oxygen plants in hospitals mandatory

by Pragati Singh
written by Pragati Singh

The Indian Medical Association has objected to the Andhra Pradesh government’s mandate for the installation of captive oxygen plants and adequate stocks of oxygen cylinders in hospitals (IMA). The state government appears to have made this decision in response to reports of several COVID-19 patients dying as a result of “inadequate oxygen.” The state alone has reported around two dozens of deaths reportedly due to lack of oxygen facilities.

Andhra Pradesh IMA President elect C Srinivasa Raju on Thursday described the government order issued in this regard as unnecessary, illogical and impractical. Issued recently by the Andhra Pradesh government, the order makes it compulsory for all the hospitals to install captive oxygen production facilities and ensure adequate oxygen supplies in their premises. As per the order, hospitals failing to do so will stand to forfeit their registrations.

Speaking to the media, Raju said the arbitrary nature of the order has bewildered the IMA. According to the IMA, the state government has failed to take the opinion of the different stakeholders while taking the decision. He noted that the decision has been taken without taking the opinion of the private hospitals and private doctors who are major stakeholders in the issues.

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The Andhra IMA president has also demanded for a state-level advisory committee to discuss the matters pertaining to the issue. Private players in the state, represented by the Andhra Pradesh Private Nursing Homes and Hospitals Association, Andhra Pradesh Speciality Hospitals Association, and the Aarogyasri Network Hospitals Association, have extended their support to the IMA in this regard.

In May this year, Tirupati’s Ruia Government General Hospital saw deaths of COVID-19 patients due to shortage of oxygen. Soon after the incident, the state government took up the issue of requirement of medical oxygen into cognisance, and mulled the revival of around 10 oxygen plants which were closed fully or partially owing to financial and other reasons.

Meanwhile, the state on Thursday recorded 2,107 new COVID-19 cases, taking its overall tally beyond 19.6 lakh, even as its active caseload rose to 21,279.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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NEET-PG
InterviewsIMA News

IMA President lambasts Kerala Govt, says reckless attitude led to rise in cases

by Vaishali Sharma
written by Vaishali Sharma

As the number of Covid cases continue to spiral in the state of Kerala, the IMA President Prof. Dr. J.A. Jayalal lashed out heaving at the Kerala Govt saying that reopening without a plan led to rise in cases. Batting for starting schools again again, the IMA president said that ‘schools should be opened in a graded manner’. Here also he hit out at the Kerala Govt saying that had the state acted responsibly and ‘started opening up gradually, the situation would have been better’

Notably, IMA has already called Kerala government’s decision to ease COVID-19 restrictions on the occasion of Eid al-Adha or Bakri Eid as ‘unwarranted’.

In an exclusive interview with Medically Speaking, the IMA President claimed that the Kerala government was adamant on opening the schools and relaxing covid restrictions which lead to thousands of cases and hundreds of deaths in the state.

He further added that the massive shortage of vaccine is a result of the lack of planning on the part of the state & Central government. On the thirdwave he said “I do not agree with the prediction that the third wave will have a disastrous effect. I am confident that the third wave will come. The way in which we have taken up the vaccination drive, followed by the Covid appropriate behaviour and the natural immunity of the people- all these things will ensure that the third wave will not be as disastrous as the second wave,”.

Following are a few snippets from the interview:

The IMA has time and again warned the central and state governments. You told the Kerala government not to go ahead with the bakr eid celebrations. What will be your first reaction to those state governments and people who are going ahead with festivities thinking that the second wave is over and we have a short window to celebrate?

Prof Dr Jayalal: Democracy always leads by popularity. During the pandemic, the health of the people is of utmost importance. The IMA plays a major role to tell what is right and how the people should mend their ways to ensure safety and security in the country.

What do you say about the Kerala government? The IMA government asked them to not go ahead with the bakr eid celebration. Also, the number of tourists in states like Himachal Pradesh have peaked in the past few days. What do you think the state governments should do and where are they lacking?

Prof Dr Jayalal: It is the duty of the government to tell the people what to do. Unfortunately, the Kerala CM was very adamant on opening the schools and relaxing the Covid restrictions. This led to 17,580 cases and 138 deaths in Kerala. India is a federal structure. We cannot allow one state to go according to their whims and fancies. That is going to have an impact on the entire country. That is why we are asking the government to come forward to curtail these cases.  The cases are increasing day by day. That is why the IMA is asking the people and governments to mend their ways.

Do you think that schools should remain shut for the time being?

Prof Dr Jayalal: We need to exclusively plan about reopening the schools. People should not come in crowds. They should maintain social distancing, wear masks and follow the vaccination protocol. The schools should not be kept closed for a long time as it can have a psychological impact on the children. We will advise that schools should be opened in a graded and sustained way. The schools need not be open on all five days. The students can be called for just two days.

Children have been silent carriers of Covid in the last wave as well. How important is it to vaccinate them? Where are we when it comes to vaccinating the children in our country?

Prof Dr Jayalal: If the parents and the adults of the family are vaccinated and masking is practised then Covid will not have a disastrous effect on the children.

Where do you see we are months from when the drive started? Many experts feel that we would not be able to vaccinate the whole population of the country by the end of the year. What will be your reaction to that?

Prof Dr Jayalal: On June 21, India proved that 8.8 lakh people were vaccinated. That means that we have the capacity to vaccinate upto ten million people. Secondly, the country needs to have a sufficient supply of vaccines.

Where are we lacking? Why such a massive shortage of vaccines?

Prof Dr Jayalal: We are lacking because the government did not plan on how they would be going with the vaccine production. They were just depending on two companies which had a limited capacity. They can make 2.5 or three million vaccines. That does not meet the needs of the ten million people. We are taking a lot of time to import the Sputnik vaccine, although the permission has already been given. In Tamil Nadu, a big nine hundred crore vaccine unit is idle. If the government was really interested, they would have worked some ways by which the vaccine production would have augmented. But we are ready to support the government and before 2021 we plan to vaccinate the complete population.

When we speak of shortage of supply, we have seen a great tussle between the state  and the centre. Similar tussle played out when the Centre said that ‘no deaths have been reported because of lack of oxygen supply’. How would you react to the politics happening around it and to the statement that ‘no deaths happened due to the shortage of oxygen’ ?

Prof Dr Jayalal: What the mind does not know, the eyes will not see. That is what is happening with the Honourable Health Minister today. He has said that none of the states have given an official report about deaths due to shortage of oxygen, so he is not wrong on his part. This is the most painful thing during Covid. There have been so many doctor deaths but the government has no official data about their deaths.

Many doctors say that the third wave is impending. Some say that it is already here. Where will you say India stands when it comes to the third wave?

Prof Dr Jayalal: I do not agree with the prediction that the third wave will have a disastrous effect. I am confident that the third wave will come. The way in which we have taken up the vaccination drive, followed by the Covid appropriate behaviour and the natural immunity of the people- all these things will ensure that the third wave will not be as disastrous as the second wave. I expect that the number of cases will be lesser than projected. The mortality rate will also be less because we have augmented our infrastructure, manpower and the resource material. When we are well prepared to face the situation, we have nothing to worry about.

Do you think we are well prepared? 

Prof Dr Jayalal: In comparison to the second wave, we are well prepared for the third wave. We know our faults and gaps now. Those gaps have been filled up. Unless the virus is arrogant with us, we will sail safely through the third wave.

 

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