Most countries/governments have health as one of the top priorities of their governance. A strong health index is an important parameter to measure the effectiveness of the governance in a country. And creating a robust health eco-system is paramount for this.
Right from the step of issuing selection guidelines to the medical schools to entrance & exit exams at multiple stages, the governing and regulatory bodies take steps at every stage of medical education to ensure that only qualified, ethical and motivated individuals become doctors in their country.
Every country has different medical necessities and priorities. These would primarily stem from the existing lifestyle, environmental factors, genetics of the population (at a macro level etc.) And hence, the government & regulatory bodies take them into consideration while preparing for the future.
For instance, in a geographically diverse country like India, the necessity to ensure a healthy supply of trained & qualified doctors in the sub-urban & rural areas across the country might be a top priority for the government & medical bodies and they might take the needed steps to make that happen. And this would also imply that the medical colleges in India need to cover the sensitivities involved in the diagnosis & treatment in these regions. But that need not be the case in geographically less complex nations.
Now, let’s flip the globe to USA. There was a sudden rise in demand for radiologists in the United States immediately post pandemic. The hospitals & the diagnostic centres in USA have struggled to meet that sudden surge in demand for radiology services. In such cases, the government & the other associated bodies would analyse the trends, and if found to be long-term, may take the necessary steps needed to step-up the supply of radiologists both immediately and in the long-run.Which may need some swift changes in the medical education system. This might also trickle down to increasing the intake for the particular specialization in the short run etc.
In countries like India, where the medical care, specially in rural areas demands more dynamic actions and sometimes is ‘less structured’, in comparison to the urban health ecosystem, the medical students in the rural and semi-urban areas are trained and groomed accordingly. The training in clinical including patient interaction, admission formalities, patient history etc. are all adapted to ensure that the future doctors understand the ‘unstructured’ eco-system prevalent in rural areas and can give the best medical care and treatment to the patients accordingly.
From the above examples, we can observe that the steps taken by the government bodies & medical colleges would shape and reshape the medical education systemand it’s a continuously evolving process.Therefore, the medical universities & institutions also need to adapt their processes and systems as per the scenario & directives from the government & other medical regulatory bodies.This includes pedagogy, assessment & evaluation parameters and also the selection & eligibility criteria.
When it comes to medical education, both India & USA offer top notcheducation and the qualified doctors are accepted globally. However, basis the examples above, there could be differences in the structure, delivery & pedagogy depending on the external situations and government directives. While a comparison on the structure might not be fair, it can be said with conviction that both countries face distinct challenges when it comes to medical and health requirements and it’s important for medical colleges to adapt and deliver accordingly.
(The writer, Vamsi Krishna Yevvari, is the head of Global Marketing at Manipal Education Americas)
