Hyderabad: The newly appointed members of the Indian Medical Association have asked the Centre to make rural service a part of the medical curriculum so as to solve the controversy over compulsory rural service.

Newly elected IMA general secretary Dr K.K. Aggarwal said, “Our suggestion is to have six months of rural service for MBBS students and six months for post-graduate students. We want the students to understand that rural service gives them a chance to work in the most challenging environment where the set-up, tools and medicines are limited. Treating a patient with these basics will give doctors confidence and also works towards enhancing their skills.”

Medical students are against the one-year rural service norm after they complete their course. The recent strike in Telangana demonstrated that junior doctors were not ready to budge on their opposition, and it took the intervention of the High Court to get them back to work.

The definition of rural service according to the IMA is a community health centre, public health center or a district hospital. Dr Yadgiri Rao, Telangana IMA said, “The real experience of rural service will come from these centres and it is very important that students go there.

Reacting to the IMA suggestion, Dr Sai Kiran, senior member of the Junior Doctors Association said, “We are not against rural service. If it becomes a part of our educational curriculum it will save us time. Presently, we are spending most of our time studying and one more year of service was proving to be very taxing.”