MBBS in regional languages: Are medical colleges ready?

After Madhya Pradesh Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang said on Hindi Diwas that the state will offer MBBS in Hindi, NMC responded that recognizing MBBS in Hindi is not feasible.

On Hindi Diwas, Madhya Pradesh Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang said that the state is planning to offer medical education in Hindi. To this, the National Medical Commission (NMC) responded that they haven't received any such proposals from other states. NMC also clarified that this is not feasible as the NMC rules do not approve to offer MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) courses in any other language than English and the national medical regulatory body has no plans to amend the existing rules. 

Vishwas Sarang had said, “An expert committee will be formed to decide how to introduce Hindi medium in MBBS course, nursing and other paramedical courses. It will be a joint effort of the medical education department and Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi University.” 

He had also said that this committee will work to prepare the course. 

Before such plans turn into any concrete policy, there are many roadblocks in the way to provide MBBS in the regional languages or Hindi. Some of the difficulties which seem obvious are - a challenge that can arise for the faculty members who have studied MBBS in English is that they can face difficulties in teaching the same course in Hindi and other languages. Moreover, the doctors who will pursue MBBS in Hindi and other regional languages will not be able to communicate effectively with other doctors who have learnt the course in English.

Shiksha.com has asked some medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh their views on MBBS in Hindi and other regional languages and here are the excerpts from the same: 

Sarman Singh, Director and CEO, AIIMS Bhopal said, “My views on this are a bit not very encouraging. Starting MBBS and higher degrees (be it in Science, engineering or any other profession) will be highly harmful to the respective professions in long term. Even, if I come from a Hindi speaking background and my English was very basic (as is expected from a rural government inter-college student of UP) when I entered Medical School and I (like many others) faced a lot of problems. Most of the time, I avoided giving class seminars, but with time, we all learn. So if a person from a very rural and poor background can learn good English in due course of time, why not others, thanks to the compulsion of English medium of course. I strongly oppose that MBBS should be taught in local languages." 

GMC Shivpuri Dean Akshay Kumar Nigam said, "It is good for Indian locality because India is a vast country. In every 100 Km, the language changes, so students coming from different languages can read, write and understand all the patient problems. In the initial phase, the faculty and students will definitely face some challenges but later on, these issues will be resolved."

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