VIJAYAWADA: Indian Medical Association (IMA) has objected to appointment of a non-medicine person as director of medical education in Andhra Pradesh. It contends that AP Medical Education Rules have been violated in the process. As such, it is in the process of taking up the issue with the centre and National Medical Commission.
AP government has recently given additional charge as director of medical education to an IAS officer, as he is already serving as commissioner of the Andhra Pradesh Vaidya Vidhana Parishad (APVVP). The appointment has kicked up a row, as AP Medical Education Rules specify that a senior professor with five years of teaching experience in a medical college is to be appointed as director of medical education.
The rules underline that the director of health and family welfare, commissioner of APVVP and director of medical education should be from the medical field, having academic qualifications like masters or doctoral degrees in medicine, surgery or similar higher medical qualification.
Government doctors contend that heads of the three health wings must only be from the medical field, especially those who head health and family welfare and APVVP. They will thus be able to handle any health emergency like outbreak of viral fevers, such as dengue, by dint of their experience of having worked in hospitals from village to district level. They can immediately issue instructions as to how the situation could be brought under control. But a non-medical person will have to depend on a medical professional to handle the situation.
Citing these issues, government doctors are getting ready to stage protests; even though the state government has been maintaining that the appointment of the IAS officer as DME is only temporary.
A senior doctor from AP Government Doctors’ Association said, “We are hoping that the government will change its decision and appoint a medical professional to head the Directorate of Medical Education, even though winter session of AP legislature is in progress and government is preoccupied with important issues.”
However, the AP branch of IMA is gearing up to lodge a complaint with national IMA, so that it can take up the issue with the union minister for health and family welfare as also National Medical Commission.
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