1,030 more seats added to govt medical colleges

The intake capacity of government medical colleges for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) courses has been increased by another 1,030 seats amid teacher, infrastructure and lab crises.

With this, the total number of seats in government medical colleges has now reached 5,380, for the academic year 2023-24, a notice of the Directorate General of Health Education disclosed yesterday.

Experts said that the decision to increase medical seats is illogical given the shortage of teachers, physical infrastructure, and standard labs.

According to data from the Directorate General of Medical Education, there are currently 5,668 teaching positions in 37 government medical colleges in Bangladesh. Of these, 2,544 positions are vacant. This means that there is a 44.88% shortage of teachers in government medical colleges. The shortage of teachers in basic subjects is the highest in medical colleges.

About 20-60 seats will be added to each medical college. The most seats have increased in Sheikh Sayera Khatun Medical College by 60, Sheikh Hasina Medical College by 60, Colonel Maleque Medical College by 50, Shahid Monsur Ali Medical College by 35, Satkhira Medical College by 35 and Syed Nazrul Islam Medical College by 35.

Patuakhali Medical College students attend classes in Patuakhali Hospital's ICU building. Classes are held for 51 students in a room that seats 25. The total number of seats in the medical college has been increased to 75 by adding 24 more seats.

Dr Rizwanul Karim, associate professor, Community Medicine, Patuakhali Medical College told The Business Standard, "There is a teacher and other manpower shortage, and the teachers we do have are not up to date with modern curriculum. There is also a scarcity of modern laboratories.  We are producing less skilled doctors because they are not receiving quality practical education."

"When a policy is decided, a supportive environment is needed to properly utilise that policy. It will not be enough to just increase the number of students, just hire teachers, or just increase the number of buildings. This is a holistic issue," he added.

A fourth-year student of Nilphamari Medical College told TBS, "As the medical college does not have a hospital, we may have to complete our internship from the Nilphamari Sadar Hospital. Since the hospital does not provide all types of treatment, we will have a learning deficit."

Not only the Nilphamari Medical College, but more than 15 government medical colleges including Jessore, Cox's Bazar and Noakhali Medical Colleges do not have hospitals.

Dr Rabiul Islam, principal of the Nilphamari Medical College, told TBS, "We are still operating the medical college in a rented building. The teacher crisis in our hospital has now decreased somewhat. However, there are no lab assistants of our own to run the laboratory activities, lab assistants come from Rangpur Medical College."

M Iqbal Arslan, former dean of the Faculty of Basic Science and Paraclinical Science at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, told TBS, "Increasing the number of seats in medical colleges has created an obstacle to producing quality doctors in Bangladesh. It is completely illogical to increase the number of seats when the quality of education and training for current students cannot be maintained."

"Medical education is being destroyed in every way," he added. 

Prof Dr Muzaherul Huq, former senior adviser at the World Federation for Medical Education and former regional adviser at the World Health Organization, told TBS, "It is not enough to just admit students to medical colleges. All necessary facilities for their training must be provided, and the quality must be maintained. Because medical students have to work with people's lives."

"Currently, many medical colleges are not running according to the guidelines of the Medical Council. Only after ensuring adequate teachers, hospital environment, and quality laboratory facilities by the guidelines of the Medical Council, the number of seats can be increased," he added.

Until now, 4,350 students were getting admission in 37 government medical colleges in the country every year.