IMA opposes AYUSH training for medical students in a letter to National Medical Commission

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has written to the National Medical Commission (NMC) opposing the AYUSH training for medical students, calling it 'not prudent'. An order has been prepared by the NMC under which the medical students will have to do a one-week internship in the Indian system of medicine or AYUSH, to which the IMA protested. The letter stated that the intern should not practice the system of medicine he has not learned in under graduation. 

In the tweet shared by ANI on Thursday, July 15, IMA mentioned "It is not prudent for an Intern trained in modern medicine to partake and practice a system of medicine which he has not learned in under graduation with know-how and show how paradigms". In this letter, the IMA also argued that an intern straightaway coming to do the internship can prove to be 'dangerous to the public and the system'. 

Stating that the one week exposure period will only lead to the creation of "half-baked mixopath", the letter mentioned "Are we adding engineering & Agricultural science too for a week as it will make him a perfect human being? One-week period exposure, especially in another system of Medicine, will only pave the way to a half-baked mixopath, which is disastrous for the country". 

The letter, expressing concerns over the learnings during the internship, mentioned that the candidates would not learn any new skill, without clarity on who would be their mentor, or whether they would be judged by the NMC faculty norms to not. The letter further quotes the judgement of the supreme court wherein it stated that a registered medical practitioner in a given pathy who have been trained and possess a registered knowledge of their subject is 'entitled to practice the said profession' and 'not trespass any other profession' in any manner.  It mentioned that NMC's proposition in this legal respect would violate the law and appealed that section 4 3(17) be deleted. 

More details about the NMC draft

The National Medical Association, in the draft regulation released earlier this month, stated that the interns, as a part of their one-week internship, could choose any elective from Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy and Sowa Rigpa for a week. It further stated that the minimum duration of the Compulsory Rotating Internship may be extended appropriately depending upon the insufficient period of attendance, unsatisfactory acquisition of required competence, unsuccessful qualification on assessment and any exigency. Talking about the curtailment of the internship, the draft mentioned that it can be temporarily suspended or even cancelled by the institution or the university according to the prevailing rules/regulations of the relevant authority provided.