Hindi English Translation || Editorial || No quick fix: On the state of medical education in India

No quick fix: On the state of medical education in India

India must not allow mushrooming of medical colleges without trained faculty and infrastructure (आधारभूत संरचना)

The war in Ukraine has brought to the fore the plight (दुर्दशा, कठिन परिस्थिति) of Indian students, many of them pursuing (engage in, take part in, take up (an activity); aim for, aspire to, strive for) medicine. Amidst the turmoil (उथल - पुथल, अव्यवस्था, अशांति), Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a webinar on the Union Budget announcements on the health sector, stated (राज्य, स्थिति) that many young Indians were going to “small countries of the world for medical education” and, therefore, the private sector should be encouraged, along with (साथ में) cooperation from States, to set up (create, start, begin, initiate, institute, establish) more medical colleges and hospitals locally so that such aspirants (आकांक्षी, उम्मीदवार, आवेदक) remain in India. His remarks (टिप्पणी, कथन) are well-meaning (well intentioned, good-natured), but the dynamics (गतिविज्ञान) of India’s medical education system are complex. The most sought-after (मांग में, लोकप्रिय) international destinations — traditionally, for medical education the U.S., the U.K. and a few west European countries — are, however, too expensive for most Indians. In the last few decades (दशक, दस साल की अवधि), Russia, China (countries larger than India) and Ukraine (one of Europe’s largest countries), with their historical commitment (प्रतिबद्धता, जिम्मेदारी, दायित्व, कर्तव्य) to public health (सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य, स्वास्थ्यरक्षा) care have been able to offer more affordable (किफायती, सस्ती, उचित कीमत), yet quality, education. India’s huge population (आबादी, जनता, नागरिक) still continues to be predominantly (mainly, mostly) rural, but most of the trained medical doctors, paramedics (a health care professional whose primary role is to provide advanced emergency medical care for critical and emergent patients who access the emergency medical system) and nurses gravitate (move towards, be attracted to) towards cities for well-known reasons. The very nature of medical education, an empirical (factual, actual, practical, pragmatic) field, requires significant infrastructure — land, equipment, and trained faculty (the teaching staff (as a whole) of a colleges/universities’ departments) at the post graduate level — all of which are in short supply (insufficient, deficient, inadequate, lacking) and uneven in their spread (expansion, growth, advancement, development). Without correcting these deficiencies (shortfall, shortage, insufficiency), India cannot expect to dramatically (greatly, largely) increase the availability of medical personnel (force, staff, employees, workforce). The Government needs to make health care the centrepiece (highlight, main feature, centre of attention, focal point) of its economic rebuilding (reorganization, restructuring, rearrangement, revamping, makeover).

The anaemic (feeble, weak, poor, inadequate) spending (an amount of money spend for a particular cause) on health is not unique to this government; for several years, India’s spend on health care has consistently (always, each time, invariably) trailed several countries comparable to its size which is why there is barely (hardly, scarcely, just, only just) one doctor for every 1,000 Indians and specialists often a tenth of what is required. These shortcomings (fault, flaw, imperfection/defect) have lubricated (facilitate, ease, make smooth, pave the way for) the phenomenon (occurrence, event, happening, fact, situation, circumstance, case, incident) of young Indians seeking (search for, try to find, look for, quest, be in pursuit of) affordable, quality, health-care education in other countries. But merely (only, just) having private establishments ((private) company, concern, enterprise, venture, organization) start medical schools, without a long-term commitment to offer necessary training and post-graduate education, could lead to (result in, cause, bring on) a repeat of the engineering fiasco (failure, mess, blunder; disaster) after the dotcom boom: a surfeit (excess, abundance; too much, more than enough) of engineering colleges without adequately trained faculty or infrastructure that churn out (produce in great quantities (mechanically)) students who need a further skills upgrade to be employable. The Government must instead ease (reduce (rules & regulations)) procedures for establishing medical colleges, spend more on infrastructure, and provide incentives (motivation, encouragement, impetus, boost) for a health-care ecosystem (complex situation/environment) to develop in rural areas. While not a quick-fix ((simple) remedy, resolution, solution, panacea, antidote, silver bullet), over time this could facilitate (make easy, make possible, enable, assist, help/aid) the growth of private and public medical colleges that could stem (stop, reduce, restrict, control, diminish) the outflow (a large amount of population moving out of a place) of students aspiring to be doctors. Private investment in medical education by itself will nowhere be enough.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.state (noun)

Hindi Meaning - राज्य, स्थिति
English Meaning - condition, situation, circumstances, state of affairs, position.

2.infrastructure (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आधारभूत संरचना
English Meaning - the basic physical or organisational structure or framework that a country or organization needs in order to function properly. For a whole nation, it includes all the physical systems such as buildings, roads & railways networks, utilities, etc.

3.plight (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दुर्दशा, कठिन परिस्थिति
English Meaning - difficult situation, trouble/difficulty, quandary.

5.turmoil (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उथल - पुथल, अव्यवस्था, अशांति
English Meaning - disorder, turbulence, confusion, trouble, chaos.

6.along with (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - साथ में
English Meaning - together with, accompanying.

7.aspirant (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आकांक्षी, उम्मीदवार, आवेदक
English Meaning - candidate, applicant, hopeful, seeker, entrant.

8.remark (noun)

Hindi Meaning - टिप्पणी, कथन
English Meaning - comment, statement, utterance.

9.dynamics (noun)

Hindi Meaning - गतिविज्ञान
English Meaning - basic/fundamental cause or force that triggers change within a system.

10.sought-after (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - मांग में, लोकप्रिय
English Meaning - popular, in demand, desired.

11.decade (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दशक, दस साल की अवधि
English Meaning - a period of ten years.

12.commitment (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रतिबद्धता, जिम्मेदारी, दायित्व, कर्तव्य
English Meaning - responsibility, obligation, duty; dedication, devotion.

13.public health (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य, स्वास्थ्यरक्षा
English Meaning - the branch of medicine handling public health; public health is also the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities through education, policy making and research for disease and injury prevention.

14.affordable (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - किफायती, सस्ती, उचित कीमत
English Meaning - economical, inexpensive, reasonably priced.

15.population (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आबादी, जनता, नागरिक
English Meaning - people, populace, citizenry, public.

16.quick fix (noun)

English Meaning - (simple) remedy, resolution, solution, panacea, antidote, silver bullet.

17.mushroom (verb)

English Meaning - increase, expand, grow, develop rapidly.

18.faculty (noun)

English Meaning - the teaching staff (as a whole) of a colleges/universities’ departments.

19.bring to the fore (phrase)

English Meaning - to move something forward to a most important position (to make it more visible).

20.pursue (verb)

English Meaning - engage in, take part in, take up (an activity); aim for, aspire to, strive for.

21.set up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - create, start, begin, initiate, institute, establish.

22.well-meaning (adjective)

English Meaning - well intentioned, good-natured.

23.destination (noun)

English Meaning - port of call.

24.predominantly (adverb)

English Meaning - mainly, mostly.

25.paramedic (noun)

English Meaning - a health care professional whose primary role is to provide advanced emergency medical care for critical and emergent patients who access the emergency medical system.

26.gravitate (verb)

English Meaning - move towards, be attracted to.

27.well_known (adjective)

English Meaning - familiar, widely known, popular, common, usual.

28.empirical (adjective)

English Meaning - factual, actual, practical, pragmatic.

29.in short supply (phrase)

English Meaning - insufficient, deficient, inadequate, lacking.

30.spread (noun)

English Meaning - expansion, growth, advancement, development

31.deficiency (noun)

English Meaning - shortfall, shortage, insufficiency.

32.dramatically (adverb)

English Meaning - greatly, largely.

33.personnel (noun)

English Meaning - force, staff, employees, workforce.

34.centrepiece (noun)

English Meaning - highlight, main feature, centre of attention, focal point.

35.rebuilding (noun)

English Meaning - reorganization, restructuring, rearrangement, revamping, makeover.

36.anaemic (adjective)

English Meaning - feeble, weak, poor, inadequate.

37.spend (noun)

English Meaning - an amount of money spend for a particular cause.

38.consistently (adverb)

English Meaning - always, each time, invariably.

39.trail (verb)

English Meaning - be behind, lag behind, fall behind.

40.barely (adverb)

English Meaning - hardly, scarcely, just, only just.

41.shortcoming (noun)

English Meaning - fault, flaw, imperfection/defect.

42.lubricate (verb)

English Meaning - facilitate, ease, make smooth, pave the way for.

43.phenomenon (noun)

English Meaning - occurrence, event, happening, fact, situation, circumstance, case, incident.

44.seek (verb)

English Meaning - search for, try to find, look for, quest, be in pursuit of.

45.merely (adverb)

English Meaning - only, just.

46.establishment (noun)

English Meaning - (private) company, concern, enterprise, venture, organization.

47.lead to (verb)

English Meaning - result in, cause, bring on.

48.fiasco (noun)

English Meaning - failure, mess, blunder; disaster.

49.dotcom boom (noun)

English Meaning - dotcom bubble, tech bubble, Internet bubble; it refers to the period (1990s) when investors pumped money into Internet-based startups in the hopes that these fledgling companies would soon turn a profit.

50.surfeit (noun)

English Meaning - excess, abundance; too much, more than enough.

51.churn out (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - produce in great quantities (mechanically).

52.upgrade (noun)

English Meaning - improvement, betterment, enhancement.

53.ease (verb)

English Meaning - reduce (rules & regulations).

54.incentive (noun)

English Meaning - motivation, encouragement, impetus, boost.

55.ecosystem (noun)

English Meaning - complex situation/environment.