The decision by the Government to extend the retirement age of medical doctors by one year is a welcome step, particularly considering the acute shortage of doctors in the country, which has mainly affected the rural hospitals.
In fact, there should be no retirement age for doctors (except perhaps for surgeons whose motor skills could fade with age) and members of other vital professions, for it takes a long time to produce such professionals. Besides, as with most other professions, the best years of doctors are when they have reached middle age, placing the patients in safer hands. It takes a long time for young doctors just out of Medical College to reach that stage of expertise. Doctors can read The Lancet and the British Medical Journal (BMJ) every month to be up to date on advances in medicine, but what really matters is constant real-world practice. This is why most patients prefer to visit doctors of mature age who have decades of practice.
According to the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA), there is a dire shortage of doctors in the country. With the mass exodus of doctors seeking greener pastures, the problem has exacerbated. This is more so given the lengthy period taken to produce doctors, unlike in the case of most other professions. It is doubtful if the speed at which the new entrants come to the field as fully fledged medical practitioners, can offset the pace at which serving doctors are migrating or retiring.
TV frequently shows congested hospitals in rural areas where patients wait in eager anticipation for doctors to arrive, mostly in vain. It was recently reported that a particular rural hospital was operating with only a single doctor with many patients being turned away without treatment.
Some drastic measures are called for to curb the mass exodus of doctors and other medical professionals since it was also reported recently that even paramedics such as radiologists were leaving the country in droves. Doctors owe their professional status to the ordinary folk in this country through whose tax money they have received their education and gone places. They cannot be allowed to turn their backs on the public in that context.
Steps should be taken to make it compulsory for doctors to serve at least a specific period in the country before making a choice. Doctors who go on foreign scholarships at State expense, but fail to return, should be penalised. Their assets should be seized and the bank accounts of such renegade doctors taken over by the State. If not, the entire public expenditure on their education should be recovered. Nothing short of such heavy punitive measures will halt the exodus of doctors from the country.
Steps should also be taken to persuade Lankan doctors already domiciled abroad to return and serve the country, as an act of patriotism. One recalls former President Maithripala Sirisena making such a fervent appeal to all Lankan professionals settled abroad to come back and serve the Motherland pledging to provide them with all the facilities and privileges. It is not exactly known whether this appeal resonated within that community. But from the look of things, not much thought had been given to this plea. If not, we won’t be having such an acute shortage of doctors in the country.
While extending the retirement age of doctors is a positive development under the prevailing circumstances, it certainly is not a permanent solution to the problem (there was also a move sometime back to recall doctors who are already in retirement). The solution, as already mentioned, lies in producing adequate numbers of doctors to meet the demand.
One such way is creating more State and private medical colleges and also increasing the intake of medical students to the existing universities. The subjects taught in schools too have to undergo a radical change with more emphasis laid on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and of course on Information Technology (IT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Presently, most university students waste their time dabbling in Arts and Humanities subjects which have little or no consequences from the point of view of employment. It was recently reported that a group of graduates who passed in Arts subjects at university were doing menial jobs as conservancy labourers, unable to find gainful employment which their level of education does not provide for. This raises the question if teaching Arts and Humanities subjects in the campuses bears any fruit at all. The Education authorities should direct their attention to this matter.
The present exodus of doctors and other top professionals from the country could also be the result of unrest and political developments. The unruly protests, demonstrations and mob violence sometimes seen in our midst do not provide a conducive atmosphere for doctors and other professionals to remain in the country as they would rather prefer a more peaceful environment where they could better engage in their professions.
Hence, a proper environment should be created to make our professionals stay back and make their expertise available to the people of this country. If not, the problem could only get aggravated.
