Microbiologists in Assam want to treat patients

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Microbiologists in Assam have joined their all India counterparts to put pressure on the Centre to modify their postgraduate courses to enable them to treat patients.

The Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists (IAMM) has demanded the Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India (MCI) to change the degree title to MD clinical microbiology and change its curriculum to enhance clinical training for microbiologists.

“Doctors who complete the MD clinical microbiology course should have the clinical competence to assess, investigate, diagnose and treat any patient with an infection, including tropical infections, sepsis, community-acquired or emerging infections,” the IAMM said.

A microbiologist at Gauhati Medical College & Hospital told The Sentinel that the IAMM’s demand is very pragmatic and timely. He said the existing MD microbiology curriculum is entirely sample-centred and laboratory-oriented.

“The existing postgraduate course curriculum is focused on laboratory investigations and techniques with little scope for interactions with patients. This is a huge waste of medical talent. We want that the course should be patient-centered also so that microbiologists can treat patients with infection,” a microbiologist at Assam Medical College & Hospital, Dibrugarh said.

The IAMM has estimated that nearly 900 doctors obtain the postgraduate MD microbiology degree every year from different medical institutions across the country and around 50 others obtain the alternative postgraduate qualification called Diploma of the National Board. The Association has pointed out that the MD microbiology curriculum has not changed for nearly four decades and — for microbiologists — the current curriculum renders every patient into just a clinical sample.

Another microbiologist said clinical correlation often becomes difficult without regular interactions between treating doctors and patients. “We hope that a modified syllabus will be chalked out soon to enable greater interactions and formalize routine ward rounds by microbiologists,” he said.

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