Don’t single out private colleges

Itake strong exception to your statement in the editorial (1). You have written, “As medical education became commercialised, the alliance between corrupt medical council members and politician owners of capitation fee-based private medical colleges destroyed the profession’s ethical fabric.”

This sort of generalisation and lumping of all private medical colleges under one wide umbrella is distasteful. While I accept that many private colleges have a lot of scope for improvement and leave a lot to be desired, there are other private colleges who are making genuine efforts to maintain standards, and it is not fair to tar them with the same brush. And what about government colleges? Are they above corrupt practices?

To me, the decline of self-regulation started a long time ago, in the fair city of Mumbai, where the cut-practice racket started, spreading to other cities and towns. The decline started when specialists began treating patients according to the dictates of the referring general practitioner. It continued when unnecessary admissions and operations began to be done because “If I don’t do it someone else will.” With so much turmoil within us it is not fair to single out private colleges for censure.

Having been a surgeon, a teacher and having spent some time on the State Medical Council as a university representative, I have seen how ineffective our internal policing is.

The practice of medicine is no longer a profession but a commercial venture, with most practitioners, either singly or in groups, investing in costly diagnostic/therapeutic equipment and trying to recoup the investment by fair means or foul.

The ‘because it is there’ syndrome is a major ailment affecting our profession. Remove the appendix because it is there. The USG shows a simple ovarian cyst, take it out. CT/MRI facilities are available, use them to impress the patient. Who is bothered about medical justification and patient safety?

There are many more problems which have to be faced and rooted out. Unless like-minded people get together and form a strong and effective lobby the trend will not change. It is encouraging to see some new entrants into the profession, who want to practise ethically. Maybe it is up to them to cleanse the profession and bring back the dignity and prestige that was once associated with the words ‘medical doctor’.