Doctors take to streets, cops pull no punches

Police caned around 200 doctors who effected a road blockade in front of the Directorate of Medical Education here around 3.50 pm on Monday.

A large number of doctors participating in the blockade were women and they did not escape police action. Retaliating, the doctors later charged into the Medical Directorate and broke chairs and glass doors. However, no one was reported hurt in the mêlée.

The doctors who had completed their MBBS in the non-service category had assembled to participate in the last leg of counselling conducted by the DME for post-graduate courses in government colleges in the state. Non-service candidates are those who have not opted for continuing working with the state government in state-run hospitals.

However, the students realised that only 21 non-service students, who went to court and got a favourable ruling on Monday, were allowed to participate in the 16 courses on offer on Friday in the quota reserved for service candidates.

The left out students contended that those, among them, who went to court had fought on behalf of all non-service students and hence they too should be allowed to attend counselling.

However, after Dr Mohanasundaram, additional director of medical education (in-charge), refused to entertain the demand citing court orders, the students enforced the blockade.

Before police arrived, the blockade had created a traffic snarl on Poonamalee High Road.When police realised that the agitators were unwilling to lift the blockade they began the caning.

However, the protesters stood their ground and demanded to see the court order. When Dr Mohanasundaram produced the government pleader’s opinion on the verdict, the agitating doctors questioned it, asking if only the rich could afford justice. The police then threatened to arrest them and a clash erupted.

The enraged doctors charged into the Directorate. Around 6 pm, Dr Mohanasundaram announced that all non-service students would be allowed to participate in the counselling.

Doctors’ Association for Social Equality (DASE) has demanded action against the guilty policemen and also called for a one-day medical students’ strike in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday.

GENESIS OF THE PROBLEM

THE tussle between the non-service doctors and the Directorate of Medical Education is a long standing one but the latest problem is over rule 52 (b) in the prospectus of post graduate applications, which does not allow the non-service students any quota in eight disciplines each in nonclinical and clinical subjects.

In all the other disciplines otherwise mentioned the quota stands - 50 per cent for all India quota that any student can apply, including the non-service students of Tamil Nadu; 25 per cent for service candidates and 25 per cent for non-service candidates from Tamil Nadu.

But in the select 18 disciplines, the Government had issued a GO stating that 50 per cent quota should be alloted completely to service candidates only and that the non-service students could apply in the all India quota only in those subjects alone. This was mentioned in the prospectus.

The non-service doctors, realising that they would not get any share of the reservation pie went to the Madras High Court. Unfortunately only 21 students went to court.

The court declared an interim stay on the counselling proceedings and said that the 21 students should be included in the 50 per cent quota meant for the service students.

“This sudden demand for courses, including MD radio diagnosis and MD radio therapy, was because these courses are very expensive in the many private colleges, but have immediate remuneration of at least Rs 60,000 to over a lakh per month in private hospitals,” explained the DME additional director.

The situation took a dramatic turn as the MCI clearly states that the admission for post graduation should not be delayed and that the last date for admission being May 31. Since there was a delay in the all India counselling, the SC had granted extension till June 10.

This website's News Paper lensman faces cop’s ire

This website's News Paper photographer was almost attacked and his equipment broken, when he attempted to take photographs of the lathi charge ordered by the police against doctors, here on Monday.

A woman inspector, wielding a lathi, seized the camera equipment and threatened to break it while This website's News Paper lensman J Manoharan was attempting to capture images of the lathi charge. This happend despite the he showed his identity card.

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Contents of the Interview BusterPreface 9
Purpose of the interview 10
Is TNPSC different from the orals you had in your MBBS 10
How to Prepare 11
Golden Rules 15
The general scheme of the interview 18
Self Introduction 19
Aims and Career Goals 21
General Knowledge Questions 21
Books to read 25
Reference Books 25
Questions from Medical Science 26
FAQ - Frequently asked Questions about the interview 29
Windsor Knot 35
Department of Health, Government of TamilNadu 42
Directorate of Medical Education 43
Medical Colleges 45
Madras Medical College 45
Stanley Medical College (SMC) 46
Kilpauk Medical College 51
Chengalpattu Medical College 51
Thanjavur Medical College 51
Madurai Medical College 52
Coimbatore Medical College 52
Tirunelveli Medical College 52
Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College (Salem) 53
KAP Viswanatham Medical College (Trichy) 53
Thoothukudi Medical College 53
Kanniyakumari Medical College 53
The King Institute of Preventive Medicine 53
Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services 55
Department Functioning: 57
Department of Public Health & Preventive Medicine 57
Directorate of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy 58
Directorate of Family Welfare 59
Indicators and Goals: 59
State Commission on Population: 60
Drug Control Administration 60
1. The Drugs & Cosmetics Act 1940: 61
2. The Drugs Price Control Order 1995: 61
3. Drugs And Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954: 62
4. Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances Act 1985: 62
Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation Limited 62
Organization: 63
Activities: 63
Tamil Nadu State Health Transport Department 64
Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society 64
Tamil Nadu State Blindness Control Society 67
Reproductive and Child Health Project 69
RCH priorities: 70
Achievements of RCHP in Tamil Nadu 70
Lessons from RCH Project Phase-I 71
REPRODUCTIVE AND CHILD HEALTH PROJECT PHASE-II 71
PROJECT COMPONENTS 72
Maternal Health 72
Infant and Child Health 73
Adolescent Health 73
Mainstreaming India Systems of Medicine (ISM) 74
Family Welfare and Population Stabilization 74
Urban Health 75
Behavior Change Communication (BCC) 75
Health Management Information System 75
BEYOND RCH PROJECT PHASE-II 76
Danida Assisted Tamil Nadu Area Health Care Project-Phase III 76
1.Introduction 76
2.Organisation and Management: 77
3.Achievements and Progress during Phase III: 77
3.1. Construction activities: 77
3.2 Improving Awareness (IEC): 78
3.3 Improved Technical Knowledge & Skills of Service Providers (Training): 79
3.4 Health Services Mangement: 79
3.5 Improvement of Medical Supplies: 81
Proposed Activities for 2001 and 2002: 81
Programmes under DANIDA 82
1. Danida supported National Leprosy Eradication Programme (DANLEP) 82
2. Danida supported Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) 83
3. Danida supported National Blindness Control Program (DANPCB) 83

India 80
President of India 80
Vice President of India 80
Prime Minister of India 80
Council of Ministers 80
Governors and Chief Ministers 84
Lt. Governors & Administrators 87
About Tamil Nadu 88
History 89
1st to 9th centuries 89
9th to 13th centuries 90
14th century 91
17th century 92
20th century 92
Politics 93
Population 95
Culture 96
Economy 97
Textiles 98
Industry & Manufacturing 99
Agriculture 100
Biotechnology 100
Software 102
Businees Process Outsourcing Services 102
Knowledge Process Oursourcing 103
E-Governance 103
Social development 103
Magsaysay Award winner from Tamilnadu 104
Districts 104
History of Tamil Nadu Districts 105
Who's Who About Tamil Nadu 108
Council of Ministers as on 01-01-2006 108
Secretaries to Government of Tamil Nadu as on 01-01-2006 111

• Locality
• Information about all the districts in Tamil Nadu
• History
• Industries, Dams etc
• Temples
• Places of Interest
• Basic Information about all the medical colleges
• Common Questions
• Questions you should NOT answer !!!
• Doubts asked by the senior batches

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Government Rajaji Hospital doctors perform a rare surgery

Mass removed from an infant

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Done with no loss of blood

No damage to tear gland or face

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MADURAI: A team of doctors successfully removed a polyp (mass), by performing a functional endoscopic sinus surgery with no loss of blood, on a 23-day-old baby boy at the Government Rajaji Hospital here on Thursday.

The 90-minute surgery is termed “rare and risky” as it had to be performed on a newborn. The infant was born to Ramesh Kannan of Dindigul and Devi at Sholavandan GH with a congenital birth defect of bleeding ‘Haemangiomatous’ polyp.

The baby was transferred to the sick neonatal unit of the GRH from where it was referred to the Department of Otolaryngology by P. Amutha Rajeswari, of neonatal ward.

A team of surgeons led by K.R. Jyothikumar, Professor and Head, Department of Otolaryngology, and comprising assistant professors P. Rajasekaran, J. Azhaguvadivel and T. Sivasubramanian, and anaesthesiologists A. Raja Manoharan, Professor and Head, Department of Anaesthesiology, S.C. Ganesh Prabhu, and M. Kalyanasundaram, Assistant Professors, swung into action.

A biopsy of the polyp was done to find out if it was ‘angio fibroma’ (angio fibroma is a vascular (blood vessel) tumour which might lead to erosion of the surrounding bone and, if left untreated, the disease could cause facial deformity, proptosis (eye-bulging) or blindness).

Considering the age and nature of the patient, struggling to breathe with blocked upper airway, doctors decided to remove the polyp through endoscopic excision.

According to Dr. Raja Manoharan, administering anaesthesia to the baby with blocked upper airway was a risky proposition. However, the anaesthesiologists successfully managed the respiration of the child.

“In conventional surgical procedure, the nasal wall will be incised to remove polyp in which the risk of ‘lacrimal duct’ (tear duct) getting damaged is higher. Besides, the loss of blood will be more and the patient has to live with a permanent scar on face. But this procedure does not cause any damage to tear gland or face,” said Dr. Rajasekaran.

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WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF VOLUNTEERS LIKE YOU, UNITE FOR SIGHT RESTORED SIGHT TO 10,062 PATIENTS AND PROVIDED EYE CARE TO 300,000 IN 2006 AND 2007

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Who Is Eligible To Volunteer Abroad?: Volunteers are 18 years and older, and there is no upper age limit. Volunteers range from undergraduate/college students to medical and optometry students, public health students and professionals, business students, filmmakers and photographers, nurses and nursing students, social workers, physician's assistants, teachers and educators, opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists.

Unite For Sight welcomes volunteers who may not have previous health or eye care experience. Volunteers receive all necessary training from Unite For Sight so that they are able to assist eye doctors with community eye outreach programs. Unite For Sight also welcomes volunteers to participate as photographers and filmmakers.

What is Unite For Sight's Mission? Unite For Sight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers communities worldwide to improve eye health and eliminate preventable blindness.

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The goal of Unite For Sight and its partner eye clinics and communities is to create eye disease-free communities. Unite For Sight’s volunteers (local and visiting) work with partner eye clinics to provide eye care in communities without previous access. The eye clinic’s eye doctors and Unite For Sight volunteers jointly provide community-based screening programs in rural villages. The clinic’s eye doctors diagnose and treat eye disease in the field, and surgical patients are brought to the eye clinic for surgery. Patients receive free surgery funded by Unite For Sight so that no patient remains blind due to lack of funds. Volunteers immediately see the joy on patients' faces when their sight is restored after years of blindness. These memories last a lifetime.

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"I can honestly say that everything I learned in 3 years of medical school paled in comparison to the 3 week experience I had in Accra (Ghana) in October 2007 as part of Unite For Sight. The program provides volunteers with a unique and hands-on involvement – being able to help out to the level of your training and comfort. My experience taught me that Ghanaian people are the friendliest people I have interacted with anywhere in the world, that ordinary people involved with Unite For Sight are making extraordinary differences, and that sitting in a classroom receiving a world-class education cannot match real life experiences while volunteering."--Varun Verma, UMDNJ Medical Student, Unite For Sight Volunteer in Accra, Ghana

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MCI Recognition

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to Centre, all states, and Medical Council of India (MCI) on a plea seeking direction to the authorities to ensure that the medical institutes do not grant specialised postgraduate degrees which are not recognised by the MCI and other government bodies or do not admit students to such courses.

The petition challenged non-recognition of the specialised postgraduate courses in MD/MS/Diplomas despite the fact that government medical colleges through affiliated universities award such degrees.

A bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justice RV Raveendran also sought replies from the UGC, UPSC , National Board of Examinations and various state public service commissions on a petition filed by 56 medical practitioners whose postgraduate degrees awarded by the various government medical colleges were not recognised by the council and other government bodies.

Senior Counsel RS Sodhi and advocate Monika Gusain appearing for the petitioners said, while the universities and government medical colleges are awarding postgraduate medical degrees to doctors, the other state instrumentalities like PGIMER , Chandigarh and Union Public Service Commission are not recognising such degrees.

It is the duty of the MCI to supervise that all the degrees being awarded by all the medical colleges across the country are recognised, said petitioners.

“Majority of the MS/MD degrees awarded by the government medical colleges in India are not recognised by the MCI though the government medical colleges awarding such degrees are at the time of inception given recognition by the MCI,” said the petition.

“If the Medical Council de-recognises institutions, courses or seats, then it means that those institutions, those courses or those seats as the case might be, are not fit for churning out qualified doctors. There has to be a check on these institutions suffering from deficiencies so that they do not admit students or grant them degrees who have inbuilt and hidden incapacity and inadequacy and which would forever in future be of definite danger to the citizens of India at large,” said the petition.

The petition added that the problem of awarding of unrecognised medical degrees and diplomas by the universities is prevalent throughout the country. These unrecognised medical degrees are a common feature in almost all the medical specialities and the main reason for such prevalence seems to be failure of MCI to keep vigil on the proliferating medical education in the country.

The petitioners said that when they entered into correspondence with their respective college authorities, they were told that their postgraduate degrees were recognised. But after applying for the jobs, they were not allowed to appear for the interview. It clearly amounts to inconsistent stands of various government bodies on the issue, submitted petitioner doctors.

Petitioner Dr Mukesh Yadav, MD in Forensic Medicine from GSVM Medical College, Kanpur, was not allowed to appear for interview by UPSC . Another petitioner Dr AK Singh MD (Forensic Medicine), MLN Medical College, Allahabad, was not permitted to appear for interview by BHU , Varanasi, stated the petition, citing many such examples.

The petition sought direction of the apex court to the MCI to furnish details of all the degrees being awarded by all the medical colleges of the country and details of degrees and colleges not recognised by the MCI, UPSC and other government bodies.

Panel recommends one-year mandatory rural service for medicos

Suggests a stipend of not less than Rs.10,000 a month

CHENNAI: Any medical student who wants to apply for a postgraduate course will have to complete a year’s service in a rural area, the Sambasiva Rao Committee, constituted to examine the possibility of introducing compulsory rural service for medicos, has recommended.

The Hindu has learnt reliably that this aspect is the key recommendation made by the committee, which submitted its report to the Union Health Ministry over a month ago.

Ministry officials said the report clearly stated that anyone who wanted to apply for a postgraduate degree in medicine (or any specialities) in any institution — private or public — within the country would have to put in a year’s service in a rural area.
Without a certificate attesting the one-year rural service, students’ applications for any postgraduate course would not be considered, sources in the Ministry added.

The committee has also recommended that the students be paid a stipend of not less than Rs.10,000 a month for the one-year period. icon_cry.gif

Further, the committee has also recommended that any medico wanting to join the government medical service would also have to put in one-year service in a rural centre — primary health centre, taluk level hospital and a non-taluk level hospital. They would be paid the same stipend and additionally, this one year would be counted as part of their service. This clause has been framed in order to provide an incentive to medicos to sign up for government jobs, officials said.

The Sambasiva Rao Committee was constituted under the chairmanship of R. Sambasiva Rao, former Vice-Chancellor, NTR University of Health Sciences, Vijayawada, after students protested against the Union Health Ministry’s suggestion that one-year rural posting be made compulsory after the five-and-a-half-year MBBS course. It was then stated that it was being done under the National Rural Health Mission project to augment the number of doctors in rural India.

Students, primarily in Tamil Nadu, began their protests in September last and later, went on a protracted fast in support of demands. They objected to lengthening the already extended MBBS course and said it would affect their career prospects.

The six-member panel, led by Mr. Rao, conducted public hearings in various medical colleges in about 20 cities and towns to elicit views of students, their parents and faculty members.

Officials added that the Ministry was perusing the recommendations and would take a decision in a couple of weeks.