30% teaching posts vacant in government medical colleges in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: Doctors have proven to be frontline warriors during the Covid pandemic. However, even as the next batch of undergraduate students ready to take admission in MBBS, there is a significant crunch of teachers who will teach them the nuances of human body and medicine.
As per data available, 30% posts of professors, assistant professors and assistant professors is vacant in six government medical colleges in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar.
The 30% vacant posts not only translates into fewer teachers for bright medical students but also for nearly 600 less post-graduate seats for the state's students as PG seats are granted per teacher depending upon his seniority and teaching experience.
“The posts are vacant as the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) has not met for more than a decade now. This has stalled promotion of teachers to senior positions while the government's bid to find medical teachers on 11-month contracts regularly comes a cropper,” said a top medical academician.
Lack of faculty plagues 8 GMERS medical colleges
Lack of medical teaching faculty plagues the eight Gujarat Medical Education Research Society (GMERS) medical colleges, which are trust-run government medical colleges in Sola, Gotri, Valsad, Himmatnagar, Gandhinagar, Patan, Junagadh and Vadnagar. Sources said that here too, nearly 30% teaching positions are vacant even as students shell out Rs 3 lakh to Rs 8 lakh per annum for medical education.
Health commissioner Jaiprakash Shivhare said that vacant posts of medical teachers are a problem. "We are however in the process of initiating DPC meetings and recruitment through GPSC and walk-in interviews to fill the vacant posts in the next six months. It is top priority," said Shivhare.
Dr Ajesh Desai, CEO of GMERS said that there are 20-25% vacant medical teaching posts. Sources said that strict Medical Council of India norms prevent them from hiring senior private doctors on teaching positions as they can teach for two-three hours but cannot spare themselves from 9 am to 5 pm.