Centre’s revalidation exams will hamper services: City doctors

The Centre’s plan to introduce revalidation examination for MBBS and MD doctors in both government and private hospitals in every three to five years will have an adverse effect on the health service in the country, feel the city doctors.

The Central government is trying to implement the revalidation examination for the doctors in the country through passing a bill in the parliament next year.

The Centre also has a plan to introduce the examination from the next year itself in all the metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore. If a doctor fails to 

clear the revalidation examination, a doctor may lose his/her job. 

There had been a major crisis of doctors in all the state-run medical colleges in the country which can be addressed only by increasing the number of seats at all the medical colleges.

It may be mentioned in West Bengal, the undergraduate medical seats have been increased than what it had been in the past.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee laid great stress on producing more doctors to cater to the huge number of patients in the state-run hospitals.

Various doctors’ organisations in the city feel that health services will be immensely affected if a doctor performs under the pressure of taking a revalidation examination in the middle of their careers.

Even if a government doctor is sacked because of his/her disqualification in the revalidation examination, how will the government replace the post when there is an acute crisis of the doctors in all the states.

Once the bill is passed in Parliament, the doctors with MBBS and MD degrees have to appear for revalidation exam in every three to five years to prove themselves. In the name of a major 

health sector reform, the Centre will ultimately affect the health services.

The Health Ministry will begin the process of establishing a national accreditation body based on precise criteria aiming to create high standards and practices in public and private hospitals.

The process of accreditation will first begin at the private hospitals and then in the government-run hospitals.

Initially, it would be implemented in all the metropolitan cities but later on, it would be expanded to the proposed smart cities.

The move behind taking this move was to wipe out “fake doctors” and “quacks” those who practice without valid degrees.

The state secretary of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr Santanu Sen said that it would have an adverse effect on the health care system in the country.

“How could the Centre implement an ill conceived move thereby putting the future of doctors in 

jeopardy? It takes nearly 35 years to produce a good doctor. What is the point in asking a senior doctor to appear in an examination when he/she had become a doctor by clearing several examinations? This theory of revalidation examination cannot be implemented in the country and IMA will oppose the move,” Dr Sen maintained.