42pc posts of teachers vacant in medical colleges

The Cox’s Bazar Medical College does not have any hospital of its own. The students have to go to the district Sadar Hospital for clinical classes twice every day in the morning and the evening. The students have to spend four hours on the streets every day for this. This has been going on for the last 12 years.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare founded the Cox’s Bazar Medical College in 2008 in the Jhilongjha union of the district. The Sadar Hospital is located in the city. The distance between Sadar Hospital and the medical college is 8 kilometres. The students have to move through the city to reach the hospital from the college.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Cox’s Bazar Medical College dean professor Farhad Hossain said, “The third, fourth and fifth year MBBS students have to attend clinical classes twice every day in the morning and the evening. It takes around an hour to reach the hospital from the college every time. In all, the students have to spend at least four hours on the streets to attend clinical classes twice a day. It’s putting immense pressure on the students.”

There are many other problems in the medical college. A fifth year student of the college on Saturday said the number of teachers at the medical colleges is not enough. There is no teacher in the ophthalmology department of the college.

According to the college administration, there are a total of 95 posts of teachers at the Cox’s Bazar Medical College, including the post of the dean. Of these, as many as 42 posts of teachers are vacant at the moment. There are a total of 15 posts of professors at the college and 12 of them are vacant now. Mainly, the lecturers are running the academic activities of the college now. However, four of the 25 posts for the posts of lecturers are still vacant. In total, some 44 per cent of the posts of teachers at the college are vacant at the moment.

The scenario is almost the same in almost all the 37 medical colleges in the country. There is a severe crisis of teachers in all the medical colleges. It is not possible to run academic activities and classes properly without an adequate number of teachers. In this way, around a few thousands of students are starting their professional life as physicians without having proper knowledge every year. According to the latest figures of the Directorate General of Medical Education (DGME), some 42 per cent of the posts of teachers at medical colleges across the country are vacant at the moment.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, former president of the Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) and veteran physician professor Rasheed-e-Mahbub said ab adequate number of teachers are needed to ensure enough practical lessons for the medical students. Not having enough teachers means lack in efficiency and proper education which eventually leads to failure in providing correct treatment to the patients. It is the reality now, he said.

There are eight subjects in the medical studies known as basic subjects. They are – anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, community medicine, pharmacology, medical laws, pathology and microbiology. There is a lack of teachers in these eight subjects in almost every medical college in the country.

The DGME held a conference of deans of the medical colleges across the country at a hotel in Cox’s Bazar last Friday. Deans of 36 medical colleges, representatives from the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, DGME director general and the director general of the Directorate of General of Health Services (DGHS) were present at the programme. Additional director general (administration) of the DGME professor Baizid Khoorshid Riaz presented the figures on the number of teachers at the 37 medical colleges.

As per that, there are a total of 2,005 posts of professors, associate professors, assistant professors, curators and lecturers for these eight basic subjects in the medical colleges. Of these, a total of 588 posts are vacant. That means some 29 per cent of the posts of teachers of the basic subjects are vacant in the medical colleges across the country.

There is a crisis of professors, the most experienced and efficient among the teachers. There are a total of 213 posts of professors of the basic subjects of which 70 per cent are vacant. There are only 65 professors of basic subjects in the country now.

Speaking to specialist physicians and persons relevant to medical studies, it has been learnt that the students are less interested in higher studies on basic subjects. They are more interested in medical practice and there is ample chance of practice in clinical subjects. Besides, there is both money and honour in clinical subjects.

Therefore, the students are more interested in becoming heart specialists, cancer specialists, neurologists and ophthalmologists as compared to the eight basic subjects. But these eight subjects are the basis of medical science. It’s not possible to become a specialist without having a good command over these subjects.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, former dean of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital Khan Abul Kalam Azad said, “This is an age-old problem which is not being sorted out due to the reluctance of the health ministry and the DGHS. First, they have to deduct how many teachers are needed for the basic subjects. Besides, special incentives should be announced for the teachers of these subjects. They (the teachers) should be given this message clearly that they are important. The offers from the government for those coming to the teaching profession are also very important.”

According to the latest figures of DGME, there are 5,920 posts of teachers of basic and clinical subjects. Of them, 2,459 posts are vacant, including 29 per cent posts of teachers of basic subjects and 48 per cent posts of teachers of clinical subjects. Overall, some 42 per cent of the posts of teachers in the medical colleges are vacant at the moment.

Speaking to the authorities of several medical colleges, it has been learnt the situation became such a complex due to the government policy in this regard. The conflict between the officials of the DGME and the Health Services Division led to this situation.

Former dean of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital Abul Kalam Azad alleged that numerous physicians with FCPS, MD and MS degrees are working at the upazila level nowadays. They can be promoted as teachers. However, even this easy task cannot be done due to the lack of coordination between the Heath Services Division and the DGME.

There were detailed discussions over the teacher crisis at the 37 public medical colleges at the dean conference in Cox’s Bazar on Friday.

Health minister Samanta Lal Sen said at the conference that, “We need to produce safe physicians to ensure quality service, which is not possible amidst a crisis of teachers. I will sit with the director general of the two directorates to sort out the problem.”

*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu