Rural Doctors in India: An Effective Solution?

Sheiry Dhillon
There is a new medical degree on the Indian market and it has a rather specific target. The traditional five-and-a-half-year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program may no longer be the sole option for pursuing a career in medicine–a new degree, specifically for rural Indian doctors, is in the process of being introduced. The Medical Council of India is initiating an innovative "Rural MBBS" degree, one that can be completed in a mere 4 years in comparison to the norm stated above. Qualified doctors however, will be required to practice solely in rural areas for 10 years before considering the option of practicing in an urban centre. Is this a step forward in decreasing the rural-urban gap that defines the Indian Public Healthcare system? Or is this merely a half-concerted effort leading to inadequate physicians lacking training and preparation?
India's current doctor patient ratio sits at a measly 6:100,000 in comparison to the 1:1,000 doctor patient ratio suggested by the WHO. This highlights the current deficiency in doctors faced by the country. India's doctor shortage is further exacerbated by the fact that Indian trained doctors are choosing to practice abroad. It is therefore no surprise that this lack of doctors has hit the rural healthcare sector the hardest. Many doctors that are produced by the healthcare system simply prefer to practice privately in the urban centre, where the high-class and a lavish lifestyle are easily accessible. 
In order to tackle this massive shortage in doctors and the rural-urban gap that exists across health services, the government has introduced the Rural MBBS degree. Doctors will not only practice in rural areas, but they will practice in the area they are specifically from. This creates a sense of familiarity, relevance, and sensitivity for the practicing doctor. It is no longer simply an 'outsider,' or city trained doctor practicing in a rural setting- it is someone who is close to the issues and is trained in an environment that specifically addresses rural health. Finally, a major advantage of the program is the career opportunity it provides those from a traditionally lower socioeconomic status to enter a field that may not necessarily have been an option before. It is equating the playing field for people across the country who wish to become physicians.
Critics on the other hand believe that doctors will be inadequately prepared and lack the appropriate knowledge to practice. How exactly can two different degrees, one having 1.5 years of additional knowledge be held in equivalence? The doctors of the Rural MBBS will not have the knowledge base and will be undermining the rigorous and much longer process that traditional students experience. Moreover, critics believe that this may attract the wrong crowd of physicians. This may essentially be considered a 'backdoor entrance,' into medical school where students are looking for an easy out and a shorter time period in school for the equivalent title of a doctor.
The Rural MBBS degree may in fact be a step forward in narrowing the rural urban gap that plagues the world of healthcare in India, but will it really be effective? Like many other programs being implemented in the rapidly growing nation, it seems like time will reveal the answer.