To address the eternal shortage of specialist doctors in its rural hospitals, the government has decided to start postgraduate diploma courses in its 11 medical colleges from the next academic year for catering exclusively to government service doctors.
“The doctors with mere MBBS qualification would be eligible to take up these postgraduate courses to attain specialisation in various medical fields. After completing the course, they would be promoted as specialist doctors in the government service in rural areas,” Health Minister K.R. Ramesh Kumar told the Assembly on Thursday, while replying to BJP member Umesh Katti, during the question hour.
He expressed concern that the State was facing a shortage of 1,183 specialist doctors in rural areas as many were not willing to work in rural areas despite the salary offer of Rs. 1.45 lakh a month, including house rent allowance. “Karnataka has 53 medical colleges, which is the highest in the entire country. Every year, 5,000 MBBS students graduates and 2,000 medical postgraduates too come out of these colleges. The State needs just around 1,000 specialist doctors to work in rural areas in the government service. But it has not been possible to get any of them,” the Minister said.
Expressing anger over such a trend, he said, “It shows that these doctors have just education and merit, but not the service-mindedness or the gratefulness towards society.”
