TIME TO RETHINK ON MD (microbiology} DEGREES? We have more than 1.3 Billion population with few facilities to practice a scientific Microbiology we have just 450 ( Approximately ) medical colleges, old ones are Government run, with few funds to improve the matters, I happened to be student of one of the oldest medical college in India and love to visit at least once in 3 years to see any new developments, nothing truly happened for many decades with lack of funds, and train the best of the lot of the merit students, We never though cared for development of better diagnostic microbiology practices, My more than 25 years of association with Medical colleges truly disappoints, in most of the Medical colleges, Microbiology continues to be least developed and least funded, hardly we find few interested with matters, and many spend least time with improving the departments. However, some researchers think that poor training has left microbiologists unaware of how best to interpret test results and gradually many MBBS qualified people do not wish to join the MD course in Microbiology, and we find many private medical colleges no candidates to take up the postgraduate course. It is certain that we will have few MD’s in Medical Microbiology, If we are at the table for reporting we are quite helpless we have few facilities to do even critical things, one has to agree that many of laboratory workers are missing the presence of carbapenemase-producing bacteria in samples. “The specialists, they know there is a problem. those who are not specialists use media that are not always very well adapted to this screening, a true phenomenon in most private laboratories they just work for profit, and manned by least qualified in technicians, and many new generation of antibiotics are randomly tested and physicians believe to prescribe the false laboratory results, clinicians have become master of the game with prescriptions of new generation of antibiotics, ultimately majority have switched to new generation of Antibiotics, or truly speaking last generation of Antibiotics leaving few options in critical times. Whether one agrees or not use of the Antibiotics has gone the wrong way and truly ANTIBIOTICS FREE FOR ALL Now everybody started to control the matters on Antibiotic resistance and implications of misuse of antibiotics, Efforts to detect and halt the global spread of drug-resistant bacteria are being hindered by a poor understanding of the limitations of crucial laboratory tests. However I always emphasize Microbiology is a team effort, and good investments in testing for optimal testing of Antibiograms, However EVERYBODY WAS HAPPY WITH THE DEVELOPING PRODUCING THE ANTIBIOTICS AND THE INDUSTRY Grown beyond imagination, and unhealthy competition to sell lured the Physicians for more prescriptions of Antibiotics, however Antibiotic prescription have led to many short cuts, and few facilities to control the spread of the infections Even many teaching hospitals have least facilities to control the spread as infected patients need to be isolated quickly to avoid spreading infections, the failure to identify antibiotic-resistant pathogens is increasing the risk of untreatable outbreaks, Poor training in use of tests allows ‘superbugs’ to evade surveillance. For some patients, we are already in the era of the septic ward where there is no effective antibacterial therapy available, and all that health professionals can do is observe to see if the patient recovers or die
NEED FOR RETHINK ON MD MICROBIOLOGY - We are awarding MD degrees after spending 3 years in a Medical college, with few or no facilities, and unless a specialty is made academic and clinically trained, no sensible person likes to join the MD examination, We are aware the syllabus not revised at all for many decades practically concentrate on the tests done by even BSc Laboratory technicians and unless a specialty is made academic and clinically trained, no sensible person likes to join the MD in the coming years, I wish the Ministry of health should make the curriculum more useful in practical sense to make the Microbiologists as treating Physicians of the Infectious disease , The present syllabus is made when there were no technicians and technologists and today we have many paramedical force to assist the qualified Medical Microbiologists ultimately a MD in Microbiology has become a degree that neither serve the Hospital practice or Good laboratory,
TIME TO REVIEW THE FATE OF MD MICROBIOLOGY
Dr.T.V.Rao MD Former Professor of Microbiology