'Medical edu system needs overhaul if chosen as social cause'

The Indian medical education system needs to be revisited if medical career is taken up as a social cause and nation-building exercise, according to T Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology.
"If medical career is chosen as a societal service and nation building exercise rather than an investment for large returns from healthcare as business, we may require serious changes and redesign of our medical education system," Ramasami said today during his address at the third convocation of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER).
"A reality check on medical education for its competitiveness and affordability on one hand and its role in nation building is necessary, at least in the current context of India," he added.

He opined that higher education in health sector requires longer preparation of time and cost per student for imparting medical education being high, access to it for people with limited financial resources has been limited.
The enrolment of talented youth into medical education appears to have suffered during the last few years, he explained.