This med college produces docs but has few patients

Patient Care Is Most Crucial Aspect Of Medical Training, RKDF Rigged MCI Inspections With Fake Patients

Rema Nagarajan & P Naveen TNN

27.02.2019  TOI

For four years, Medical Council of India (MCI) repeatedly flagged concerns about a private college in Madhya Pradesh but could not stop it from taking in three batches of students. One batch of 150 doctors is now in its final year of MBBS while another just appeared for second-year exams.

The story of RKDF Medical College, which finally faced a Supreme Court crackdown in January, shows how blatantly such colleges exploit the legal process to stay in business.

MCI and a Supreme Court-appointed inspection committee had noted “fictitious” patients in the teaching hospital, falsified medical records and “grossly inadequate” patient load. Although the SC has ordered that the third batch admitted in 2017-18 be shifted to other private colleges in MP, the 2014-15 and 2016-17 batches remain at RKDF college. It’s anyone’s guess just how many real patients these soon-to-be doctors have seen.

It was business as usual at the college when TOI visited it around 11.30am on January 30. The dean, Dr S S Kushwaha, offered a tour of the college and hospital to show it had enough patients and required facilities. He also suggested a visit to the hostels to talk to students. However, TOI found an empty hospital with wards locked up, defunct operation theatres, no patients in the postoperative ward or anywhere else, barring a handful in the OPD area. The OPD rooms had no doctors, and the blood bank was deserted too.

The hostel visit didn’t materialise, ostensibly because students had left after the exams. When told no patients or students were around, Dr Kushwaha claimed patients mostly visited the hospital after 4.30pm. However, on a repeat visit the same evening, he admitted there were no patients, hence no point in repeating a tour of the hospital.

An employee who played guide said the college has three “public relations officers” who bus in ‘patients’ from nearby villages before inspections. Dr Kushwaha said they had separate funds to get “clinical material” (read patients) for students.

Incidentally, Dr Kushwaha was Madhya Pradesh’s director of medical education from January 2014 to the time he joined RKDF college as dean immediately after his retirement in 2015.

Asked why teaching is allowed to continue at a college the SC had found to have “indulged in large-scale malpractices” to comply with the minimum standards for admitting students, officials in the MP Directorate of Medical Education said it was up to Medical Council of India or the courts to shut it down.

“The students studying there have not complained or gone to court. How can we take any action?” said an official while agreeing that students passing out as doctors without treating genuine patients and getting proper training was a concern.

RKDF college is shown on the MCI website as affiliated to the state-run Barkatullah University, though Kushwaha said they were not affiliated anymore. Asked if their affiliation had been withdrawn after the SC order, he said that was not possible as they are affiliated to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan University, a private university owned by the RKDF Group, which runs a veritable education empire in Madhya Pradesh, including colleges of nursing, pharmacy, dental science, homoeopathy and Ayurveda.

What that suggests is for the RKDF Group, and Dr Kushwaha, the crores in SC-imposed fines or being labelled by the apex court as a fraudulent institution is no more than a pause. The business of education rolls on without any full stops.

Memo to PG medicos for refusing ‘VIP duty’
Row Over Med Aid To Guv Secy Mom

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Times of India 27.02.2019

Chennai: Postgraduate students of Madras Medical College who boycotted ‘VIP duty’ at Raj Bhavan were issued a memo by the Rajiv Gandhi government GH on Monday. But when the students threatened to go on strike, they were promised that no penal action would be initiated. Their posting at Raj Bhavan too was withdrawn.

While students alleged ‘ill-treatment’ and rule violation, governor’s secretary R Rajagopal, whose mother was the ‘VIP patient’, said he did not ask for anyone to be posted to take care of his mother. “An unnecessary controversy is being kicked up. I have hired staff from two private hospitals to take care of my mother,” he said.

A student asked: “Since when are government doctors posted at people’s homes? They did not let the doctor on first shift leave till very late at night as he didn’t have a replacement.”

We were forced to boycott VIP duty: PG anaesthesia students

The student said, “The official vehicle did not even drop the doctor back.”

The GH first received call from the Raj Bhavan dispensary a few weeks ago about Rajagopal’s mother admitted to the dispensary on the Raj Bhavan campus. The dispensary is attached to the GH.

After visiting her, GH doctors suggested that she be moved to the hospital for intensive treatment.

“She was here for weeks and we gave her good care. But her family decided to move her home and continue care. Doctors here too did not object. So, she was discharged,” said GH medical superintendent Dr Narayanaswamy.

The hospital management decided they would post first and second year postgraduate medical students on duty as the patient required non-invasive ventilation frequently.

“Normally, we post professors to care for VVIPs such as the President or the Prime Minister. For medical care of the governor, we post assistant professors as per protocol. In this case we posted students. Later, they objected to it,” he said.

Head of anaesthesiology department Dr Anuradha Swaminathan, who signed the duty allotment register on Monday for two shifts — 8am to 6pm, and 7pm to 7am from February 25 to March 2 — issued a memo to postgraduate and super-specialty students a few hours later for refusing to report for duty at the Raj Bhavan.

The memo said some others had failed to report to the theatre.

Postgraduate anaesthesia students said they were forced to boycott the ‘VIP duty’, as it was not on campus. In a letter to Dr Swaminathan, they said: “Our postgraduates are being ill-treated and we feel unsafe to go and work in such an ambience.”

Students, on condition of anonymity, said: “We have been doing VIP duty on campus for 2 months. We even went to the Raj Bhavan when we were first posted. We thought we had to go to the dispensary, but we were posted at the guest house, instead. The ventilator too was from GH. To make things worse, we were ill-treated.”

Dr Swaminathan said the duties were cancelled and the doctors were back in wards and theatres. “It is an internal matter, but everything is solved now.”

Dr Jayakumar, president of the MMC students council, said: “The department should not have posted PGs on that job. Second, they were posted to a person’s residence because they felt she was a VIP, though that person doesn’t figure on the VIP list as per state protocol. Students were bullied into following a roster that was not even legal. We hope this never happens again.”

Parents, students shut down hospital after college fails to resume classes

TNN | Feb 24, 2019, 07.14 AM IST

HYDERABAD: Agitated over classes not resuming at the Maheshwara Medical College and Hospital even after meeting university officials, students and their parents held a protest at the college's Patancheru campus, on Saturday, and forcibly closed down the hospital for about five hours. Sources said about 300 people participated in the strike.

Parents said they will allow the hospital to function only after the institute chairman gives an assurance that classes will resume from Monday. They had earlier met officials of Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences - all medical colleges in the state are affiliated to it - who had promised to intervene and resolve the issue.

"Initially, we forcefully shutdown all services except emergencies and asked doctors and other medical staff to step out of the hospital," said Bhadri B, whose daughter is studying in second-year MBBS. He added, "There was no one from the management to stop us and only after few hours, the management tried to get in touch with us through video conference."

According to parents, they went to the campus on receiving a message from college management. "We got a message from the college, saying they would resolve the issue today. However, on reaching we realised that we have been fooled yet again by the management. That's when we decided to close the hospital," said P Prabhakar, another parent.

Demanding that the varsity take strict action against the institute, parents said they cannot wait any longer. "For over a month now my daughter has been going to college daily and coming back because classes are not being conducted," said Vijaya Lakshmi, another parent.

The university officials, meanwhile, said they will form a committee to inquire into the issue. The college faculty decided to discontinue classes from January as the management failed to pay salaries for six months. From then, students and parents have been requesting the management to clear dues and ensure that classes resume.

Read more at Medical Dialogues: Dr Rakesh Kumar Vats, IAS Takes charge as MCI Secretary 

General https://medicaldialogues.in/dr-rakesh-kumar-vats-ias-takes-charge-as-mci-secretary-general/

MBBS graduates from Telangana ’s private medical colleges have never had a class of anatomy

TNN | Feb 26, 2019, 07.33 AM IST

HYDERABAD: In wake of the fiasco over non-conducting of classes at the Maheshwara Medical College for over a month now, the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA) has said that there are many other medical colleges which are not conducting classes regularly, especially when it comes to anatomy classes.

In the absence of anatomy dissection classes, MBBS graduates are passing out without basic knowledge of the human body. Anatomy is a basic for completing MBBS but a dearth of professors, have left many future doctors in the lurch. In many cases, it is the inability of the private medical colleges to get a cadaver for carrying out anatomy classes.

“This has happened several times before with other private medical colleges too. In some medical colleges (classes on) anatomy dissection are not being held. In fact, in many colleges annual exams were held without conducting anatomy dissection classes even once, because of which students have been losing out on academic knowledge. This issue was also represented to higher officials of the health department previously but no action was taken,” said TJUDA president Dr P S Vijayender Goud.

Difficulty in getting cadavers for carrying out anatomy classes stems from the tightening of norms. “It has become very difficult to get a cadaver now. Earlier when rules were less stringent, there was some movement of unclaimed bodies through mortuaries but that has come in control now with GHMC cremating or burying unidentified and unclaimed bodies. In absence of any rules for donating or selling such bodies to private colleges, getting a cadaver has become a problem,” said IMA state secretary Dr Sanjeev Singh Yadav.

Another reason affecting classes at private colleges are ghost faculty - doctors practising in the near vicinity shown as faculty on paper. “These faculty members exist only on paper and after getting MCI approvals, college managements leave the medical students without any classes. In one particular college, not a single anatomy class was conducted in the entire 2018,” said Dr P S Vijayender Goud.

TN music varsity to be named after Jayalalithaa as tributes pour in

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published  Feb 25, 2019, 1:38 am IST

The CM also launched a state-wide drive to plant 71 lakh saplings.

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam pay tribute to former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa on her 71st birth anniversary at party headquarters in Chennai on Sunday. (Photo: DC)

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Music and Fine Arts University here will be named after late Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa as a tribute to her, said Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. He was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam in observing Jayalalithaa birth anniversary on Sunday.

This exclusive university for music and fine arts was launched to preserve, foster, popularis and promote the traditional system of Indian music, performing arts and fine arts practised in Tamil Nadu.

Both Mr Palaniswami and Mr Panneerselvam paid floral tributes to Jayalalithaa’s statue on her birth anniversary. They cut a 71-kg cake at the AIADMK headquarters here to mark the occasion.

Later, they flagged off a propaganda van aimed at reaching out to people with the “achievements of the AIADMK and the State government”. A compact disc of the party’s propaganda songs, titled “Ammavin Arasu” (Jayalalithaa’s government), was also released.

The distribution of welfare aid, gold rings to newborns and organising medical camps marked the 71st birth anniversary celebrations of late AIADMK supremo by the ruling party across Tamil Nadu.

Mr Panneerselvam and Mr Palaniswami, the coordinator and co-coordinator of the AIADMK, distributed sweets to party members and released a souvenir marking the occasion. The CM also launched a state-wide drive to plant 71 lakh saplings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national chief Amit Shah too hailed the late leader for her services to the people. Mr Modi, whose party has entered into an electoral pact with the ruling AIADMK for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, tweeted: “Tributes to Jayalalithaa Ji on her birth anniversary. Her contribution towards the development of Tamil Nadu will be remembered for generations. A fine administrator and compassionate leader, her welfare measures benefitted countless poor people.”

Remembering the powerful personality, Mr Shah tweeted, “I offer my tributes to Jayalalithaa ji on her birth anniversary. Her passion and commitment to serve the poor and marginalised shaped millions of lives in Tamil Nadu. She will continue to be fondly remembered as Amma for generations.”

Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, described Jayalalithaa as "the most respected and beloved Amma" and someone he respected and "whose radiant smiling face comes before my eyes as I talk to you. She was CM five times and known as iron lady of Tamil Nadu." Mr. Goyal said, her heart was for the poor, farmers, women and less privileged in the society.

AU hikes fee for research activities

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | A.RAGU RAMAN

Published  Feb 25, 2019, 5:36 am IST

move to generate revenue for research evaluation.

Anna University

Chennai: Anna University has increased the fee for various research activities,including synopsis submission, late submission of thesis, institute recognition and renewal by more than 20 per cent to 100 per cent with immediate effect.

The move is aimed to generate revenue for conducting research evaluation and inviting experts in doctoral committees, sources said. There are around 13,000 PhD scholars pursuing research at Anna University and its affiliated colleges.

According to a circular from the Centre for Research in Anna University to all affiliated colleges, the fee for synopsis submission has been increased from Rs 6,500 to Rs 8000, for late submission of thesis from Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,500.

The fee for resubmission of thesis is now Rs 12,000 against Rs 10,000 earlier. For deferring the viva, students have to pay `8,000 while the earlier fee was Rs 16,500. The supervisor recognition has been doubled to Rs 2,000.

The fee for change of category has been increased five-fold from Rs 500 to Rs 2,500. “A majority of the research scholars are faculty members in private engineering colleges who are doing their PhD part-time. They arereceiving a low salary and the fee increase would burden them further,” the principal of a city-based engineering college said.

“If doing PhD becomes costlier, the faculty members may not be able to finish their research. It would affect the quality of engineering education,” another principal said.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has been urging engineering colleges to go for National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation from 2021.

“The university should facilitate research in the engineering colleges to meet the demands of AICTE. The university should also help the colleges by giving a minimum amount from the fees collected from the research scholars,” they urged.

Sources said the introduction of minimum marks in the entrance test for PhD scholars has reduced the intake of research scholars this year. To qualify to do research, the candidates have to score 40 out of 100 marks.

“It has brought down the revenue of the Centre for Research and hence it has increased the fees,” sources added. While defending the fee increase, Anna University officials said, “We need to pay USD 100 for the foreign examiner to evaluate the thesis. The university also needs to bear the travel expenses of experts in the doctoral committees.”

The university has regularised the PhD admissions, thesis evaluation and conducting viva for the candidates recently.

“The regulations mandate us to include two experts from other universities  and national laboratories in the doctoral committee. It has to meet three or  four times during the course of research and we need more money,” officials said.