Medical colleges to offer MBBS courses in Tamil, English

Medical colleges to offer MBBS courses in Tamil, English 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Chennai : Medical colleges affiliated to Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University will teach undergraduate courses in both Tamil and English, vice-chancellor Dr K Narayanasamy said on Wednesday. The state will also offer medical textbooks to students in Tamil, if required, he said. Guidelines detailing subject-wise competencies are published on NMC website along with the Attitude, Ethics and Communication (AETCOM) course. 

The new guidelines suggest a bilingual mode of education. “Teaching, learning, and assessment may be carried out using a bilingual mode (Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu) along with English,” it said. While health minister Ma Subramanian initially said TN would not follow NMC curriculum, he later said it would be followed. “Until now, professors primarily taught in English as the class is likely to have candidates from other states (All India candidates) who don’t know Tamil. Faculty would, however, explain to those who do not understand English in Tamil,” said Dr Narayanasamy. 

“Now, this will be done more formally. In addition, the student too can answer questions during viva or even in written tests in Tamil if he or she cannot explain themselves in English.” MBBS textbooks are also available in Tamil. “Those who have studied in Tamil medium until Class XII may prefer to read in Tamil. We, nevertheless, encourage them to learn English.” Guidelines also propose a National Exit Test for students who join colleges this year. As per the calendar, phase 1 exam will be held a year after commencement of the course, and phase 2 at end of second year. In the third year, they will write part 1 of phase 3 exam and 18 months later will write step one of the proposed NExT. After a year of CRMI and internship, they will write step 2 of NExT.