Crackdown on doctors with PG med. diplomas in Telangana

Hyderabad: The health department is cracking down on PG medical diploma holders, who are posing as doctors with super speciality degrees, and running illegal clinics in the state.

While the government does not recognise ‘PG diploma’ degrees, those with such degrees have approached the court, seeking permission to practice like other MBBS doctors.

The issue cropped up two months back, when Telangana State Medical Council (TSMC) found that a doctor with a PG diploma in cardiology was running a clinic in Mancherial claiming that he was a qualified cardiologist. When TSMC sought his explanation, he took the issue to the notice of a national association of diploma holders, which sent a legal notice to the council and also approached courts. The association claims that such degrees allow them to open clinics and practise.

Incidentally, the doctor in Mancherial obtained his diploma in ‘clinical cardiology’ from IGNOU.

Putting things in their perspective, TSMC Registrar Dr Hanumantha Rao said “Diplomas granted by IGNOU are not recognised by any council because medical subjects should be taught only in medical colleges attached to hospitals. In addition to this, cardiology is classified as a super speciality. How can they get a degree in it with a diploma?”

Dr Rao said Osmania University too wanted to begin diploma courses for medical subjects but they were denied permission for similar reasons.

Additionally, TSMC is also engaged in a tussle with those who study abroad and allegedly carry out illegal practices in the country.

One of the issues is that such degrees in countries like Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine are termed MD, and hence they add MD tags to their names.
“That MD is equivalent to an MBBS in India. They are misleading people,” said a health department official.

About two months ago, two cases were detected wherein doctors with medical degrees obtained abroad had procured fake registration certificates.

Dr Hanumantha Rao said that they do this as foreign returnees need to clear Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) in India to be allowed to practise.

“The standard of education in colleges abroad is poor and such students struggle to clear the exam and resort to these devious methods,” he added.