https://science.thewire.in/health/mp-mbbs-hindi-syllabus-english/
- There is rare anecdotal evidence of students who completed their schooling in Hindi and dropped out of MBBS programmes because of language obstacles.
- Medical terminologies are neither Hindi nor common English, so everyone regardless of their background language has difficulty understanding them.
- However, students with an English background have the luxury of consulting a plethora of quality publications on each topic, whereas Hindi medium students do not.
- Madhya Pradesh has come up with the idea to adapt the curriculum to Hindi, without answering questions about availability of teachers, books, journals and conferences.
-
The two most important components needed to learn anything are teachers and books. We need experienced doctors to train young doctors. Do we have any existing stalwarts who can teach in Hindi? Will there be translation training for them as well? Modern medicine, as global medicine, cannot be learned from a definite set of books. There are an unlimited number of books on each topic, and let’s face it, we need them all. Are we going to set aside 2% of our GDP to create a separate translation department? Or are we going to hand out one or two books to students like lollipops?
Scientific journals and conferences are used to disseminate the new evidence that is produced daily in modern medicine. Will there be distinct scientific conferences for Hindi MBBS graduates, or will they be mandated to participate in existing conferences as spectators? Is it possible to translate all of the journals in real-time?
Let’s hope the language here is being used as a medium to exchange thoughts and not as a political weapon. Full-page advertisements in newspapers and an inauguration programme along the lines of a political rally work only boost apprehensions. Let us hope that we are not on the verge of instituting a new caste structure in our country’s health system – wherein we might have the hierarchical classification of English, Hinglish and Hindi doctors discriminating against each other, and the general public adding insult to the injury. - by Dr. Hariom Patel
- 17/10/2022