Doctors are super heroes in white aprons. They mend the bones we break, stitch the skin we tear, clean the arteries we clog and fix the nerves we wreck. They give up sleep studying all night to make sure we are able to sleep in good health. They are the ones we trust to cut open our body without any dilemma. But how do we know that we are trusting our lives in the right hands? How do we know that the person we are calling 'doctors' are actually worth holding the proud title?
Reliable quality of medical practice has always remained a major challenge in the country. And the recent scandal about the leakage of medical entrance exam papers has inflamed fear amongst the common people. This incident has raised a big question mark for the entire health care system in Bangladesh. It remains unclear of who is more at blame for the chaos caused- the corrupted 'education system', the 'unethical teachers' or their 'undeserving students'. Malpractices in the national board exams is something our nation got tolerant to. But corruption in medical entrance exams is certainly beyond people's endurance as it directly affects the country's health care system. An entire batch of about 6,000 students will get admitted. They will be serving the health care system till their death. Think about the ethical stand of the ones who bought question papers and will be claiming themselves doctors in six years from now. Their merit also has a lot to answer. Mark Twain once said, "Be careful about health books, you may die of a misprint." If a misprint could prove life threatening, imagine the consequences it would have if we place the book in the wrong hands.
The assessment module of medical universities already has scopes of development, on above that question paper leakage is more than enough to lead to collapse of the health care system. This issue will skip media and everyone's attention in days but continuation of this conspiracy is an emergency in slow motion. This time the authority just handpicks the affluent kids desperate to hold the prestigious title. Not just that, they knocked out the ones who actually have a knack for medicine and its ethical practice. This does not affect the coaching centres that grasp thousands of students right after enrolling them, neither does it affect the ones who sell the questions camouflaged in the darkness of the night and nor the ones who bought it. The sufferers will only be the innocent civilians. Many who got chances in government medical schools will be enjoying subsidised fees arranged from the tax of the civilians, but at the end of the day after happily using all priceless resources only a quack doctor will land to take care of you.
Medical education is a continuum and a lifelong endeavour. It does not just require a person only to have great academic merit but also strong ethics and commitment to care. Therefore, assessing a student solely based on an hour's examination in which they have to choose from a set of 4 readymade answers is quite irrational. The 100 questions comprising of physics, chemistry, biology and general knowledge may judge students’ ability to memorise. But what about their ability of application? What about their moral values? Their determination to serve the ones in need? Isn't medical practice about the combination all of those criterions?
Unfortunately, our system of evaluation pays very little heed to the need for demonstration of our lessons. Thus the students concentrate so hard on memorising the sentence to the last alphabet that they forget to learn to hold the stethoscope right. Yes, such is the scenario in our country. It is shocking that we live in a country where almost six thousand doctors register every year, yet the doctor to population ratio is just 1:4,719.
The entire assessment module certainly demands a drastic reformation. Additionally, the authority should take appropriate action to keep question papers secure. The sad truth about Bangladesh is that most of the doctors in our country are prisoners of their education and shackled by their profession. The scenario will only get worse unless we grow respect for the profession and hand it over to the ones who deserve to carry it forward.
The writer is a third year student at Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College, seemesaha@gmail.com
An emergency in slow motion: Health education chaos
Seeme Saha | Published: September 24, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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