The Madhya Pradesh government's decision to offer medical education in Hindi may initially benefit rural students, but doctors believe that it will severely restrict their potential for advancement and knowledge. As part of the ambitious project of the Madhya Pradesh government to deliver medical education in Hindi, a first in the nation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah released textbooks of three subjects in Hindi for first-year students of the MBBS course in October.
Shah added that efforts are being made to begin technical and medical education in the nation in eight other languages. He argued that students across the nation ought to shed their sense of linguistic inferiority and demonstrate the command of their native tongue.
Dr. J. A. Jayalal, a former national president of the Indian Medical Association, claims that although Shah may have claimed that students' abilities would "improve," this could really hinder their development. "Modern, or universal, medicine is what we are referring to. The entire world engages in it; it is not just practised in India. You cannot expect to study and upgrade your knowledge and abilities outside of your region if you were trained in that language "Jayalal spoke to PTI.
He went on to say that medical education cannot be taught solely through textbooks; it also necessitates reading numerous worldwide research papers, journals, and articles, all of which are written in English. "If you only interact with people in your immediate neighborhood and never reach out to the larger world, it will be fine. If you wish to refresh your skills, it won't help you if you only have a basic comprehension of the language "he said
"Rural and regional pupils' education at the school level needs to be improved if they are to become fluent in the English language. It wouldn't be a problem if they knew the language, "He said that because the doctors were educated in an Indian language, they would not be able to advance. But is everything bad? No," said Resident Doctors' Association-AIIMS, New Delhi President Jaswant Jangra.
The move, according to Jangra, "will encourage regional students to continue and finish their education on the one hand, as they occasionally lack confidence and familiarity with English, and on the other hand, it will improve doctor-patient communication. In our line of work, it's crucial that doctors always be able to communicate with their patients. That problem will be resolved by communicating in a common tongue," he said.
He acknowledged the drawbacks of medical education in a regional language because there are "no medical publications in Indian languages," but said that if it is not made mandatory, individuals who don't want to engage in research or don't want to leave their familiar surroundings might choose it.
