Mamata Banerjee proposes idea of diploma course in medicine to address doctors’ ‘shortfall’

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday proposed the introduction of a diploma course in medicine, aiming at combating a “shortfall” of doctors in hospitals in the state.

She asked state health secretary N S Nigam to look into the legal aspects of starting a such a course to train more doctors for primary healthcare units. "You (Nigam) please find out whether we can start a diploma course for doctors, just like we have for engineers. Several boys and girls will get the opportunity to enroll for the medical course," Banerjee said at a review meeting of 'Utkarsh Bangla' held at the state secretariat here.

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Banerjee, who is also the health minister, said the regular MBBS course takes at least five years for one to be a medical graduate, and asserted that the diploma course “would address the shortfall of doctors”. "We get doctors after a training period of five years which is a long time. In all these years, they have to study hard and sit for examinations.

Besides, we utilise them as junior doctors across different hospitals while they are still studying. “Since there has been an increase in the number of seats, hospitals and patients, we can think about developing a diploma course as well. These doctors could be employed at primary healthcare units,” she said.

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The chief minister also asked the health secretary to constitute a four-member committee to look into her proposal and advise him about it. Banerjee said senior doctors and professors could be engaged to train those who enroll for the diploma course. She also asked Nigam to explore whether a law can be framed to elevate senior nurses as "semi-doctors" for training purposes.