Higher education in medicine remains the choice of a few. Will this trend change with the introduction of research options for undergraduate students

Over the last 50 years if Indian doctors have not received the recognition due to them, it is because they have not focussed on research though they had enough research material to work with.

Medical practitioners point out that the long and arduous road to becoming a doctor deters students from taking up higher education in medicine. Some niche areas such as orthopaedics and cardiology continue to remain a male prerogative.

Also, barring a few instances, the treatment for various diseases continues to be based on the result of research conducted in developed countries. This, despite the large variety of cases doctors see in their practice, particularly in government hospitals.

Most private institutions have been publishing research papers in international medical journals thanks to the support they receive from their institutions, but government-run medical colleges lag behind. It is to address this gap that the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University has mooted suggestions of research options for students at the undergraduate level.

A seminar held as part of the celebration of the Medical Council of India’s platinum jubilee recently in Chennai discussed the issue at length. The seminar was organised by the university with the specific aim of addressing this lack of focus on research.

Eminent speakers from private medical institutions spoke on the various aspects of research. Topics discussed included genomics and stem cell research that has caught the imagination of scientists across the world.

Though the need for research has been felt for long, very few take it up. It is not the lack of funds as much as the desire to pursue research that is the deterrent, senior doctors say. The continuing medical education programmes and medical conferences conducted by various private institutions present doctors with a forum to present difficult cases that they had treated and the challenges they face while treating an ailment. But pure research requires much more effort and money.

“Financial assistance can be sought from the Indian Council of Medical Research, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the Maternity and Child Health (MCH) programme” depending on the subject of research, explains K. Meer Mustafa Hussain, vice-chancellor of the university.

So far, undergraduate students have not been allowed to register for Ph. D. even if they evince interest, Dr. Hussain pointed out. “The idea is to encourage students at the undergraduate level to take up topics for research on their own. In the first year, medical students learn basic science, but from the second year they would be eligible to register for a course in research methodology. This would allow the students to develop an interest in research.”

The National Rural Health Mission would also provide young doctors an opportunity to study the various diseases that they diagnose every day in their practice, pointed out V.K. Subburaj, principal secretary, Health, who inaugurated the seminar.

The university has also proposed to begin Ph.D. and M.Phil. programmes. A pre-requisite for a student who wishes to take up a Ph.D. or an M. Phil. is the approval of the screening committee for the topic and the ethical committee’s approval to ensure that the methods used for research are above board.

“A student studying certain ailments could seek funding under MCH if it is a study on newborn and maternal mortality. The Ayush department encourages research in alternative medicines. We have options such as experimental medicine and clinical epidemiology. Once the university’s academic board clears the suggestions, undergraduate students from the second year of their MBBS course would have the option of choosing research topics. The most important step would be the clearance by the medical ethics committee. Each institution will have its own committee which will clear the research programme, says Dr. Hussain