We’re conveniently overlooking the actual point amidst the NEET controversy – the medical science field is being compromised and no one bats and eye.
The NEET exam scandal had turned media fodder and the saga was a media and political spectacle in July 2024 with new political angles added every day. NEET exam is an entrance level exam for medical aspirants in India and this year’s results were full of discrepancies that have challenged the validity of the exam itself and of the body that regulates it. The issue, however, died out like every other significant matter in the country after the Supremem Court dismissed the appeal to cancel the results of the year because there was a lack of evidence against question paper leak. Amidst the politicization of the controversy and the rightful/wrongful vilification of teachers who were allegedly involved, the audiences seem to be missing the important point; safeguarding the competence of the medical science field is least of anyone’s concerns while it should be the primary agenda. [This article was created on the backdrop of the NEET controversy in July 2024 and has since been edited for relevance.]
I’ve always had a personal regard for the medical field and all the people working in it – doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, everyone. Without them, the life expectancy of the world population would be God knows what by now and every single day, they deliver miracles no short of divine. I believe that doctors stand at the horizon where science and spirituality meet. I do not believe everyone is cut out for the kind of responsibility and pressure they handle on an everyday basis. Doctors are special people.
Sadly though, I haven’t heard many good things about the way doctors are groomed in this country. I took time to gather some inputs from friends who have just completed their masters in medical science to make sure that the information I had is valid. Firstly, we all know that it takes more years to graduate as a doctor qualified enough to even start practicing, and many more years to be specialized enough to be recognized as a reputable doctor. Understandably so, because they’re learning something so complex and important, and that can’t be easy or fast. But the medical courses are extremely expensive and competitive. [More than 2.3 million students attempted NEET exams this year.] And the professional sphere does not accommodate the large number of graduates who emerge out of the education system every year.
Right after graduation, medical students have to later undergo at least one year of rural government service where a number of them claim to not have been treated well and/or paid well enough for their important service. The living conditions are also said to be not upto the mark during the tenure. Worse still, the government keeps changing the regulations related to graduates’ service at government hospitals so no one really knows what to expect or how to prepare. Given the kind of financial and intellectual efforts they put into becoming doctors, they are paid peanuts in return during this service tenure. The government always has the ‘no funds’ board to slap on the faces of young doctors looking towards the government sector for service opportunities. There is zero accountability over how young medical graduates are thrust around in search of their next options. The obligation to serve at a rural health centre can come at any point or not come at all – the wait is excruciating.
Despite the lack of job opportunities in the government sector, the seats for medical courses are increasing and accommodating more and more ambitious candidates. The private institutions charge them heavily. And with no government jobs available, doctors end up in private hospitals/setups where patients are charged a fortune and there is thus a gaping void between the middle class and poorer sections of the Indian society and their access to quality healthcare. The problem starts at the very root of the system when an ambitious student decides they he/she wants to become a doctor, and the system does its best to milk their parents financially dry. The NEET controversy that we’re currently seeing is evidence to that. Rich parents have paid lakhs of money for leaked question papers just so their child ends up in a medical college. How they expect the child will get through the most challenging academic course that frustrates even the intelligent students – we don’t know. We better understand that medical science is a demanding field that takes genuine passion and love for the profession for a student to get through. The mental pressure associated with MBBS is not for everyone. The scandals that happen over admission to medical colleges are clearly greedy and short-sighted because good doctors cannot be produced through fraud or force. And I won’t even get started on the perils of the reservation system that is at play even here – in a field that is clearly, very clearly, dependant on competence and merit. There is no blaming the outcome when the cause is staring us at the face – and is a solvable issue if the government meddles with genuine concern.
More so, complaints of doctors being extremely overworked and harassed at workplaces keep surfacing and are shoved back into the periphery of things because no one seems to have the time or solutions for doctors’ problems. Mainly so because we assume that being a doctor is a creamy layer job and they are paid extremely well.
It is debatable how well experienced doctors are paid in this country. Medical bills are the middle class’s nightmare and being able to afford good doctors is a true luxury. And just so that I present a holistic picture, I also want to state that there are plenty of instances where patients have felt/have been ignored by medical staff and felt dehumanized. As much as we understand the pressures of the medical field, the kind of bills we pay validates a lot of consideration from doctors and nurses.
That said, I’ll always stand on the doctors’ side because it is simply not an easy decision to study the academically challenging MBBS, and certainly not anywhere close to easy graduating with flying colours, only to pursue the next difficult degree for specialization. It cannot be easy either knowing that someone’s life lies in one’s hands and a small mistake might mean their end. I’m sure that when doctors succeed, they feel a greater sense of accomplishment than any of us feel in our careers.
The society, or the country as a whole simply does not seem to understand the depth and true importance of the medical science field – it seems like we barely care because the NEET controversy is a pathetic joke at this point. We must have learnt our lessons at least after COVID – the part of the population that got through owes a lot to the doctors and medical practitioners who put themselves on the frontline. I am not a doctor, but I have seen the wonders they do first hand. I truly believe that, while it is important for all of us to acknowledge them more, it is more important for people in power to focus more on healthcare and put doctors on the forefront instead of politicians and business owners. I’m afraid the conclusion sounds more like a sermon without a concrete solution to provide; but this is the best I can do from where I am.
Thank you for the inputs: Dr.Sahith Jain, Dr. Gaurav Jain
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