Dr. Monica Pathak and Dr. Avnish Jolly 11th June:It is ironic to see today more and more of younger generation opting for management, engineering or IT degrees. Very few of them want to go in medical field. Craze for MBBS is even getting lower and what to say about Ayurveda, Homeopathy or other alternative medicine system. Reason for this is quite simple higher salary package; modern life style. Medical education is costly more time consuming and returns are less. This is really serious concern as if we look at present scenario of health care facilities. Recent data which appeared in leading newspaper clearly shows the number of doctors available to per 1000 people in India is just 6 in number. Doctors after doing 6 yrs study is plain graduate and have to undergo 3 more yrs of post graduation and then gets a decent job with respectable salary. Conditions of AYUSH Doctors are even worst. They don’t have jobs at all either they have to opt for different field or practice allopathic medicine for earnings. Consumer awareness is another factor making it difficult in clinical expertise.
In contrast, in the adjacent two choc-a-bloc classrooms, students study mathematics and chase the dream of becoming engineers soon. Some of them may even opt for business schools after that. Ms. Sudeash Choudhary, Principal, St Soilder International Public School, Chandigarh, says that the students have a wide spectrum of careers to choose from and the number of those who settle for medicine is on the decline.
The message is alarming. The white coat and stethoscope have lost their charm for Generation Next. Once the first career choice of the brightest students in schools and colleges, the profession of doctors is now in the dumps. Life science teachers that Business Standard spoke to disclosed that only those students whose parents own nursing homes or hospitals now opting for the medical subject.
The dire condition is reflected in the number of students who take the All India Pre-Medical Test organised by the Central Board of Secondary Education — while 200,000 wrote the exams last year, the number was just 160,000 this year.
The growing disinterest in the profession also gets reflected in another set of numbers. Since 2004, some 300 engineering colleges and 400 business schools have opened in the country; in contrast, only 38 new medical colleges have come up. The 270 medical colleges have 30,433 seats, less than ten per cent of the 350,000 engineering seats in comparison.
New medical colleges since 2004 38
New engineering colleges since 2004 300 (Appox)
New business schools since 2004 400 (Appox)
Salaries at entry level
Call centre executive Rs 10,000-20,000
Technical diploma-holder Rs 8,000-25,000
Business school graduate Rs 10,000-40,000
Engineering graduate Rs 15,000-40,000
MBBS doctor Rs 10,000-20,000
AYUSH doctors Rs 6,000-12,000
Doctors, teachers as well as human resources experts say this is because of the higher salaries offered by other professions. While a doctor starts out with a salary of around Rs 6000 to 15,000 per month after putting in seven years of studies, an engineer can hope to get double of that and a call centre executive the same amount.
It is also a fact that it is tough to get a respectable position in a hospital. Young doctors with basic medical degrees have no hope for growth unless they go for postgraduation. These courses are not only extremely competitive but also cost a bomb (Rs 30-40 lakh). And, if you go through these courses, you have no hope of earning a salary before you turn 30.
Curiously, the salaries doctors get are low, though they are in very short supply. According to a recent report of the Planning Commission, there is a shortage of about 600,000 doctors, one million nurses, about 200,000 dental surgeons and a large number of paramedical staff in the country. To meet the shortage, the 11th Five Year Plan talks of no less than 60 new medical colleges and 225 nursing schools.