Non-clinical professors in West Bengal medical colleges to take on patient-care duties
Times of India | 6 January 2025
KOLKATA: Professors of non-clinical subjects like anatomy and physiology will now have to shoulder other hospital duties, including tending to patients admitted to state-run medical colleges and hospitals, says a new health department circular issued on Friday.
A large pool of qualified physicians, who were just taking lectures till now, can be used to shoulder a part of medical duties in over-stretched govt-run institutes, say officials, explaining the rationale behind the move.
A senior health department official said, “Non-clinical professors are all MBBS degree holders and qualified to examine and treat patients. As state-run medical colleges have a crisis of doctors, these non-clinical professors will be asked to check patients at OPDs or emergencies or other places, as required. It is necessary for non-clinical professors to be on medical duties so that clinical professors are not overburdened.”
TOI, in its Friday edition, reported on several other key directives that were part of the health department circular. The directives included a seven-hour per day work schedule for faculty members at state-run medical colleges, performing additional duties when assigned by heads of departments, mandatory presence of faculty members in OPDs on admission days from 9am to 2pm or until the last patient is attended to, and the presence of a faculty member in the central lab and radiology department after usual duty hours.
The non-clinical departments at state-run medical colleges are anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, pathology, microbiology, community medicine and forensic medicine.The circular issued by NS Nigam, principal secretary to the state health and family welfare department, reads: “Faculty members from non-clinical disciplines, other than those preoccupied with medico-legal autopsies, will also be assigned duties in general OPD/flu clinic/others on exigency as assigned by MSVP/principal/director of the institution, under the supervision of concerned faculty members of the assigned clinical unit.”The non-clinical departments at state-run medical colleges are anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, pathology, microbiology, community medicine and forensic medicine.
According to health department sources, govt medical colleges in Kolkata like SSKM Hospital, Calcutta National Medical College, Medical College, NRS Medical College and Hospital and RG Kar Medical College have on average 250 professors each, and 40% to 45% of them are in non-clinical departments. The number of professors at govt medical colleges in districts is as low as 100 each, of whom 15% to 20% are non-clinical professors.
The decision on the deployment of non-clinical faculty members for medical duties at hospitals has been welcomed by a section of professors. An anatomy department professor at Medical College Kolkata said, “When we were MBBS students, we saw patients as part of clinical training. So, we have the qualification to examine patients in outdoor or emergency. At present, non-clinical professors like us leave college after classes. As per the new directive, we will have to work on medical duty in addition to teaching, just like clinical professors. This is a welcome decision.”
Another professor of physiology at the medical college said, “We chipped in by checking patients during the junior doctors’ strike for over two months. During the pandemic, we were on emergency medical duty too.”