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    Medical Microbiology in Crisis in India

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    tummalapalli venkateswara rao
    Dr. T.V. Rao discusses the emerging crisis in medical microbiology education and practice in India. He argues that the field is plagued by inadequate diagnosis of infectious diseases, overuse of antibiotics, and a view of the laboratory as a profit-making industry. The education system produces graduates with theoretical knowledge but little practical skills. Senior professors and department heads often lack basic microbiology skills themselves. As a result, the quality of patient care suffers and clinicians are reluctant to accept microbiologists. Unless reforms are made to prioritize competency-based training and merit-based admissions, Dr. Rao fears the future of medical microbiology departments is at stake.

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    Medical Microbiology in Crisis in India

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    tummalapalli venkateswara rao
    73 views4 pages
    Dr. T.V. Rao discusses the emerging crisis in medical microbiology education and practice in India. He argues that the field is plagued by inadequate diagnosis of infectious diseases, overuse of antibiotics, and a view of the laboratory as a profit-making industry. The education system produces graduates with theoretical knowledge but little practical skills. Senior professors and department heads often lack basic microbiology skills themselves. As a result, the quality of patient care suffers and clinicians are reluctant to accept microbiologists. Unless reforms are made to prioritize competency-based training and merit-based admissions, Dr. Rao fears the future of medical microbiology departments is at stake.

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    Medical Microbiology in Crisis in India

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    Dr. T.V. Rao discusses the emerging crisis in medical microbiology education and practice in India. He argues that the field is plagued by inadequate diagnosis of infectious diseases, overuse of antibiotics, and a view of the laboratory as a profit-making industry. The education system produces graduates with theoretical knowledge but little practical skills. Senior professors and department heads often lack basic microbiology skills themselves. As a result, the quality of patient care suffers and clinicians are reluctant to accept microbiologists. Unless reforms are made to prioritize competency-based training and merit-based admissions, Dr. Rao fears the future of medical microbiology departments is at stake.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    73 views4 pages

    Medical Microbiology in Crisis in India

    Uploaded by

    tummalapalli venkateswara rao
    Dr. T.V. Rao discusses the emerging crisis in medical microbiology education and practice in India. He argues that the field is plagued by inadequate diagnosis of infectious diseases, overuse of antibiotics, and a view of the laboratory as a profit-making industry. The education system produces graduates with theoretical knowledge but little practical skills. Senior professors and department heads often lack basic microbiology skills themselves. As a result, the quality of patient care suffers and clinicians are reluctant to accept microbiologists. Unless reforms are made to prioritize competency-based training and merit-based admissions, Dr. Rao fears the future of medical microbiology departments is at stake.

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    EMERGING CRISIS IN MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY

    IN INDIA
    Dr.T.V.Rao MD
    Medical Microbiology is a part of the whole system of Medical education which is in crisis mode
    today and we are paying a very heavy price for inadequately investigating the patients to even
    diagnose and rule out basic infectious diseases of more than 100 years old, with scientific
    evaluations, I think I am in a mood to get out of active work in Microbiology, with many limitations
    to work with integrity, certainly lack of commitment to develop the Medical microbiology leads to
    crisis with the misuse of Antibiotics and today patient spends more on Antibiotics than on the basic
    disease process, Many clinicians think that Laboratory Medicine is COW they can get maximum MILK
    out of ignorance of the laboratory system. Ultimately the Laboratory Medicine is turning out to be
    a profit making industry at the cost human life and survival. Our education system is wonderful and
    MD in Microbiology course teaches many great matters in syllabus and curriculum our educational
    system is wonderful, competitive and producing many graduates and postgraduates, however, if you
    analyse our Microbiology our students talk many things beyond what we can do in our country. It
    means we are loading them with imaginary things drifting from realities, the skills and performance.
    Today our Microbiology students learn complex things beyond their need; our syllabus is excellent;
    everything is told as theory and I see even the postgraduates in medical microbiology practice with
    least interest in laboratory procedures, they think laboratory is a Technicians Job and they are expert
    to guide system and supervise with little knowledge in basics and many may not be talented to do
    few basic things even after post-graduation. It is unfortunate that very Senior Professors and many
    HODs think they are born angels of Microbiology and few can read a Gram stain a basic procedure
    in Microbiology it ex expected to read well by BSc student in Microbiology, It is not fault of any one
    they think they are the administrators of Departments and living in illusion they know all the matters
    well start kidding the students with ignorance I feel majority of the seniors never take any clue from
    many events. Even after spending more than nine years to be a medical microbiologist with MD, and
    another period of more than nine years in waiting to become a professor, most of us go into
    unproductive work without contributing much to patient care which makes the clinicians reluctant
    to accept us as a part of the system. This all happens with cumulative effect; in microbiology the
    teachers, once they become associate professors, they read very little and leave the laboratory work
    to assistants spending time with the so-called administrative work, finding faults with many around
    as idle ness causes perverted minds and some chasing examiner-ships. As we know they are fulltime
    examiners and part time teachers.

    IS MD Microbiology COURSE HEADING TO COLLAPSE?

    Today no body joins MD


    Microbiology may be because the chances of employment are low, and to be trained by most
    ignorant people heading the departments. With least interest and it is just a Time pass to juniors
    like our senior professors in Medical colleges who come to enjoy the hospitality of Medical council of
    India as they need a person to lead the department. I can definitely say our Medical microbiology is
    most contaminated course as anybody can interfere and report without having basic knowledge on
    pathophysiology of Infectious diseases, The ignorance of Senior MD is compensated by MSc
    graduates, and private managements cannot find people with little commitments and clashes
    between Medical and Non-Medical people killing the profession in Many private Medical Collages, as
    everybody acts smarter than what they know the Microbes, In this process the Microbes are
    competing with Microbiologists to be smarter than we think and winning the dynamics of crisis in

    Medical Microbiology with mismanagement of Infectious diseases I find that microbiology


    departments are least funded and in future to continue in the departments will be disappointing. I
    feel in future many least interested people would join the MD (Microbiology) just for a job for MCI
    regulations and the departments will be loaded with mediocre teachers and future of the
    departments would be at stake.
    When I published a Article on the above matters in widely read India Medical Times as Falling
    standards in medical microbiology Monday, August 11, 2014 Some of the learned people experts
    commented with following ideas

    Comment by Dr Jacob John 2014-09-18 06:00:02 Professor of Eminence from


    CMC Vellore
    Dear Dr Rao,
    The scenario is exactly the same not only for medical microbiology but for other subjects too clinical
    subjects included. Quite often we get microbiology reports at a technicians level but signed by an
    MD Microbiology (without any interpretation or recommendation).The training for UG/PG has to be
    reoriented as competency based. Admission should be merit based -no capitation fee/management
    quota/NRI quota.
    Only those with stuff should enter the portals of higher education.

    Comment by Rajwardhan Yadav


    2014-10-11 02:16:11
    Dear Dr. Rao,
    I appreciate you taking the time to write your opinion. Your honesty is humbling. We are facing with
    a scare of Ebola in the US and the media is going bonkers with the coverage. One death to date in
    Dallas and the entire town is on the edge. The big wigs at the CDC and Department of Public Health
    are having sleepless nights. Microbiologists and infectious disease specialist are providing their
    opinions through most of the media outlets. You have brought up two main issues, first being the
    age old, stereotyped and non-pragmatic education (microbiology) system that exists in most of the
    medical schools in India and the second being the if an individual infected with Ebola were to come
    to one of the metropolitan cities of in India and transmit the virus to various individuals he comes in
    contact with and the chain reaction that it would set in, is unimaginable. I wonder what can be done
    about these issues. The regulatory body overlooking medical education in India is in the news only
    when the Courts give directives and when disproportionate assets are recovered from the official
    (s)/aficionados. It just appears that there is no accountability. Dr. Rao, people like you with a
    conscience need to advice how to make subjects like microbiology attractive and lure the bright
    medical graduates towards the field. Microbes are evolving, novel mutations are resulting in
    antigenic shifts and drifts. Genomic exchanges are taking place within and across species and
    serotypes. When evolution is occurring even among viruses and bacteria why is so difficult for our
    MCI to evolve. Intelligence and brightness is inherent within the students who join our medical
    schools. We have to provide the optimal learning environment for them to flourish. A start that
    comes to my mind is to provide good training to the faculty who teach our students. In todays world
    of molecular and personalized medicine we need to expose our students to the tools of modern
    medicine and how they can utilize them to provide better health care to the Indian people. Just to
    end, I hope the Indian government has a plan in place to screen individuals coming out of West

    Africa otherwise we are going to have a public health crisis on our hands in the subcontinent. After
    reading your opinion I just had to applaud you for the candidness in which you expressed your
    thoughts and also write a few of my thoughts. Good luck.
    Raj Yadav MD, PhD
    Division of Rheumatology
    Yale School of Medicine New Haven CT

    Comment by CHUGH, TD
    2014-08-23 21:25:21
    Teach microbiology as case studies in collaboration with clinicians. The present format is dull and not
    worth it.look at the way antibiotics are taught to 3rd year students in micro and pharma without the
    teachers even knowing their proper use on patients. Times have changed, we need integrated
    teaching programs. All the wet practicals for undergrads are useless. Make micro training
    interesting and life -like. Give it the colour of infectious diseases. Teachers must change before u can
    improve microbiology standards.

    Comment by Kavita Raja Head Division of Microbiology Sree Chitratirunal


    Institute of Medical Sciences
    2014-10-10 13:40:54
    In 1997, we started an association called Academy of Clinical Microbiologists in Trivandrum. Those
    interested in taking Microbiology to the patients bedside can join us. The Association is open to only
    Medical doctors who have specialised in Microbiology (MD), but is not restricted to India.
    With more active members we can do many things like curriculum development, antibiotic policy
    development, training of faculty in clinical application of microbiology results with treatment
    suggestions/antibiotic stewardship. For our activities, please go to http://www.clinicalmicrobio.org .
    We have a journal- Journal of academy of Clinical Microbiologists (JACM) that promotes clinically
    oriented articles
    Ref OPINIONS Falling standards in medical microbiology Monday, August 11, 2014 India Medical
    Times by Dr.T.V.Rao MD
    I WISH MANY FRIENDS MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGISTS PHYSICIANS AND HOSPTIAL ADMINISTRATORS
    READ JUST NOT ARTICLE AND SHARED OPIBION OF Dr Jacob John a luminary in Medical
    Microbiology from Christian medical college Vellore and other great luminaries who fought for
    improving standards in Medical Microbiology

    I WISH MANY TO JOIN MY LITTLE SPACE ON FACEBOOK AND CONTRIBUTE YOUR IDEAS ON RAOS
    MICROBIOLOGY AND RAOS INFECTION CARE WITH HUNDEREDS OF CONTRIBUTIONS ON
    www.slideshare.com www.medmicrobes.com
    NEVER FORGET EVERYONES LIFE IS IN CRISIS OUR ICUS MICS WILL BE KILLER FIELDS IF THE
    MICROBIOLOGY DEPARTMENT ARE NOT KEPT IN ORDER

    The article carries no conflict of interest an opinion for betterment of Medical Microbiology as we
    are heading to a state BUGS AND SUPERBUGS FREE FOR ALL
    Dr.T.V.Rao MD Professor of Microbiology Freelance writer

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