Jaadu ki jhappi in MBBS syllabus

State medical varsity new V-C Arun Jamkar says introduction of subject that teaches friendly, humane approach his top priority; patients should not be mere bed numbersu00a0u00a0If the new vice-chancellor of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) has his way, then doctors giving their patients a jaadu ki jhappi along with medicines will not be an unusual sight anymore.Former dean of Sassoon General Hospital, Dr Arun Jamkar, who has taken over the reins of MUHS, the parent body to which all medical colleges are attached and which has the power to make changes in the medical curriculum, says his top priority is to ensure the introduction of a subject in the medical curriculum that makes doctors more respectful and sensitive towards their patients. He says he does not want doctors to treat patients as mere bed numbers.Speaking to MiD DAY, Dr Jamkar said that this is the 100th anniversary of the Flexner report ufffd the first report that stressed the importance of science in medical education and laid down a structure of how medical teaching should be conducted.On this occasion, medical educationists the world over are mulling over changes required in medical education. On joining this post, the first meeting I convened was a panel of nationwide medical experts to discuss syllabus changes and to brainstorm on what steps we could undertake to stop commercialisation of medicine, he said.In a move that is reminiscent of the plot of the popular film Munnabhai MBBS, Jamkar said that the idea was to introduce some changes in the curriculum at the MBBS level to include development of communication skills among doctors.Currently we are producing more and more technologically oriented and highly urbanised doctors who are interested in monetary gains and fame. What we want is that our young doctors become more socially conscious and try to understand the needs of the patients. For instance doctors should talk politely and not scare the patients. They should treat patients with respect and merely treating them as diseased bodies will not do, said Jamkar.Docs welcome moveCity doctors welcomed the thought of a humane syllabus change, stating it was the need of the hour. At the Indian Medical Association, we had initiated a project to teach communication skills to improve the doctor-patient relationship and bridge the gap between what patients want and what theyu00a0 get, said Dr Sharad Agharkhedkar, president of the IMA, Pune.