We usually associate doctors with healing, not with teaching. But many doctors devote themselves not only to patient care but also to teaching students, mostly in medical colleges. An alumnus of Osmania Medical College (MBBS) and Karnataka University (MD in Internal Medicine), Dr Vijay Mohan is a senior consultant physician at Care Hospitals has been teaching postgraduate medicos free of cost in his home classroom for over two decades. Students from both India and abroad seek his guidance and come to him for training.
Emphasis on quality medical education
“I place a lot of importance on quality medical education, which builds future doctors, and teaching is my passion,” says Dr. Vijay. “I converted the ground floor of my house in Barkatpura into a classroom and have been teaching PG medicos for several years.” Clinical medicine, neuro-critical care, cardio diabetology, heart failures, metabolic syndrome and hospital infection control are areas of interest.
The doctor’s passion for teaching did not dim even during the pandemic period. He holds a national record of taking 150 online classes for medical students during 75 days of lockdown and also organised Covidcon-2020, the first international online conference on covidology, in which around 1,500 doctors from all over the world participated.
Global reach
Apart from teaching, Dr Vijay Mohan has been invited to deliver lectures in various universities and conferences in India and abroad. A few months ago, he was invited to deliver lectures on tuberculosis at three American University Medical Schools and was also offered a ‘Visiting Professorship’ by US universities.
Need for changes in medical curriculum
Highlighting the need for change in the medical education curriculum, Dr Vijay Mohan, who has 23 years of teaching experience so far, says, “We need to revise the present medical education system as per the requirements of society and changing demography. For example, we have an increasing geriatric population in India due to enhancement of life span, and therefore we see various age-related diseases such as hypertension, stroke, heart and lung ailments and Alzheimer’s disease. Sedentary lifestyle, excessive job stress and unhealthy dietary habits are causing many lifestyle diseases even in relatively young age-groups like those in their 30s and 40s. Added to these are problems like drug resistance due to misuse of antibiotics, dearth of adequate distribution of doctors and nurses, public violence against doctors etc.”
Noting that the National Medical Commission (NMC) is taking steps to revise the curriculum, the doctor says, “We should bring out textbooks on the new medical education system and its significance. We need ‘Graduate Medical Education Regulations (GMER)’ to focus more on a learner-centric, patient-centric, gender-sensitive and outcome-oriented approach in the new teaching curriculum.” He adds, “To set up teaching standards, the government should establish a ‘National Medical Education Standard Board’ or a ‘Medical Teaching Standard Assessment Board’ and conduct teachers’ training programmes and periodic assessment of these standards in all medical colleges. Such revisions in the medical education system can boost the healthcare standards.”
