Community med seats in TN likely to go up

TNN | Updated: Nov 7, 2017, 00:24 IST

Chennai: Community medicine, the stream that encompasses prevention and management of disease outbreaks, is seeing a resurgence of interest among budding doctors after a decade-long lull. Tapping into this, the government has given the go-ahead to increase the number of postgraduate seats in the subject from the existing 19 in all state colleges to 25.

The six additional seats will be offered at the Institute of Community Medicine at Madras Medical College, which will increase its PG intake from 4 to 10 the next academic year. The government also sanctioned 15 new faculty posts at the institute.

Earlier, those who failed to get the subject of their choice in the highly competitive scramble for limited PG seats chose community medicine, said director of medical education Edwin Joe, adding, "We are seeing a change in trend now. Students are choosing community medicine even when they are eligible for other clinical courses."

Community medicine, also known as social medicine, preventive medicine, public and community health, largely involves managerial and research work towards prevention of diseases, promotion of health in a community and monitoring implementation of various health policies.

"A community medicine practitioner doesn't see the patient alone. A personal disease is seen as a symptom of a wider social malady afflicting the individual, family and community," said Dr Sanjay Zodpey of the Indian Institute of Public Health. The practitioner identifies non-medical factors that led to the disease, including poverty, illiteracy, poor hygiene or limited access to health care facilities, and chalks out a plan to prevent this through health education.

Only 5% of the 16,191 MD seats in medical colleges across the country have been reserved for community medicine. Director of public health K Kolandaisamy said the highest number of postgraduates take up teaching, while a large number apply for managerial roles in the state health department. "A sizeable number are also recruited by international agencies like the WHO, while a smaller number pursue research," he added.

Community medicine could have played a crucial role when the state was in the grip of a dengue outbreak just before the recent spell of rain. "Most of the dengue deaths happened because families sought medical help too late. Ideally, community medicine doctors should have been utilised to pick up cases directly from the field," said former director of public health S Elango. "We need community medicine because a doctor's responsibility is not just to those who seek help but also to those who can't afford to."