The Medical Council of India (MCI) has started communication and behavioural skill training for government medical college doctors across the country.
Last month, four Patna Medical College and Hospital doctors took part in the training at the MCI's regional centre in Indore. Sources said the training was aimed at urging government doctors to deal with patients in a proper manner.
Health department sources said doctors at other medical colleges would also undergo the same training where they will be taught how to present themselves while dealing with patients and undertake modern teaching methodology to teach MBBS students.
Ajit Kumar Verma, a doctor in the physical medicine and rehabilitation department of Patna Medical College who took the training, said: "The MCI is trying to make the doctor-patient relationship friendlier with this initiative. We were taught how to deal with patients and their relatives. Besides, we were also taught innovative ways in which teaching can be made more interesting."
Verma said doctors who underwent the training were supposed to train MBBS students in the same manner. "The students will be trained how to deal with patients and their relatives," he said.
Amar Kant Jha Amar, a doctor in the dermatology department of PMCH, said: "The training also focused on the referral tendency of government doctors. We were asked to avoid referring patients to other hospitals. The idea is to provide patient-friendly atmosphere in government hospitals."
Some senior PMCH doctors, however, criticised the move stating it wouldn't help much.
"The council is wasting time by holding such training programmes," said a doctor in the PMCH surgery department on condition of anonymity. "In most cases, patients' relatives pick up fights with doctors if a patient dies. It's understandable that they get affected emotionally but there have been cases where they have even damages hospital property. This can't be tolerated. Rather, there should be a training programme for common people on how they should behave with doctors."