As per doctors, the step taken by Madhya Pradesh government to impart medical education in Hindi may help rural students initially but it would gravely limit their scope for growth and knowledge.
In October, Union Home Minister Amit Shah released textbooks of three subjects in Hindi for first year students of MBBS course as part of an ambitious project of the Madhya Pradesh government to impart medical education in Hindi, a first in the country.
Shah also said work is underway to start technical and medical education in eight other languages in the country. He asserted that students across the country should come out of their linguistic inferiority complex and showcase their abilities in their language.
According to Dr J A Jayalal, former national president of Indian Medical Association, Shah may have said abilities of students would “enhance” but, on the contrary, it may deter their growth.
“What we are talking about is modern medicine, it is universal medicine. It is not only practised in India, it is practised throughout the world. If you are trained in a regional language, you cannot expect to go outside to study and update your knowledge and skills,” Jayalal told PTI.
He added that medical education cannot be taught through textbooks alone, it also requires frequently reading international research papers, journals and articles, all of which are written in English.
“It will be ok if you are going to stay at a local community level and never connect with the global community. Basic understanding you can give in a regional language, but if you want to update your skills, it is not going to help you,” he said.
While accepting the cons of medical education in a regional language as there are “no medical journals in Indian languages”, he said that if it is not made mandatory, those who do not wish to get into research or do not plan to leave their familiar environment can opt for it.
Courtesy : The Indian Express