Quality Of Private Medical Education

The Sunday Leader, 25/09/2011
Over the last few days the attention of the public has been drawn to the private medical College (SAITM) at Malabe. (PMSM) The sole reason for this is the unwarranted, unjustified and hasty decision to grant it Degree Awarding Institute (DAI) status even before a fraction of the shortcomings and deficiencies has been attended to. The most conspicuous failing has been the inability to put up a Teaching Hospital while continuing to admit students every year. Despite the support from the Ministry of Higher Education and UGC as well as from very influential professionals who have their children studying there SAITM has deliberately delayed the construction of a Teaching Hospital as it was hoping to get the Government to allow the use of State Hospitals for teaching purposes.
The Minister of Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake too has muddied the waters by questioning the authority of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) in the recognition of Medical Degrees registrable in Sri Lanka. It is most surprising that the Ministry of Higher Education is clueless about the role of the SLMC and authority vested in it by the Medical Ordinance. One wonders what kind of advice the UGC has been giving the Minister as his defence has been that the UGC has concurred with his decisions. It is clear from these revelations that the Ministry of Higher Education and the UGC need to be made aware of their limitations and constraints placed upon them by the Medical Ordinance. Unlike other degree courses, the courses leading to MBBS need to be examined, monitored and if need to be made to fall in line with the guidelines established by the SLMC (ironically with the concurrence of the UGC about a decade ago.) It is also very unfortunate that even knowledgeable professionals are only concerned with obtaining the final degree for their children and not the process, content, quality, etc., leading to it. One wonders whether either or both the Ministry of Higher Education and the UGC are capable of understanding the problems and the special situations that medical courses demand.
When discussing the issue of private medical education, attempts are made to portrait that the SLMC and GMOA are against the opening of private medical schools. Nothing is further from the truth. It is the haphazard opening up with little concern about infrastructure facilities, quality of teachers and trainers, course and curriculum content, maintenance of minimum standards, etc., that make these ventures the target of severe criticism. Sometimes they even try to gain advantage by using political power and influence to share state hospital facilities along with local medical students.
If from the beginning SAITM had followed the recommendations made by the SLMC they would not have been in this situation. It is not too late even now for the Ministry of Higher education and the UGC to cooperate with the SLMC in moving forward to obtain legal recognition.
A. G. de Sliva
Ragama.