Age To Become a Doctor

It was a meeting called by ther secretary of health, and many of us were asked to attend. It was concerning changes proposed in MCI. Basically it was to get opinion on three types of changes, and to help select one of them. However there was a big communication gap, what may be called a communication divide, and people went there hoping to suggest a large number of changes in MCI. It was to be an opportunity of a lifetime, and if we did not avail of it, all would be lost. The organizers restricted speakers to opting for one of the three options, and prevented them from making any other suggestions. After the whole thing was over, one of the professors near retirement said something which appealed to them. He said, “ My son is in an engineering college. What he learns there is same as what medical students learn in medical colleges. He learns structure and function of machines. They learn structure and function of human body. I think the age at which students join a medical college is very small. They are immature, and not fit to learn medicine. They need to spend a year on psychology, communication skills and such. Then they will be able to break news about a patient's death to the relatives. When I was a 23 years old intern intern, I was told to tell relatives of a patient about his death, and I did not know how.” I was aghast. Students join a medical college at the age of 17 or more. When they become doctors, they are 23 years old, which is long after they become mature to break bad news to relatives. In fact, they are mature at 18, when they are allowed to vote. By the time they complete their bonds and postgraduation and subsequent bonds they are 30 years old. By that time more than one third their life is over. By that time their engineer friends have been earning for 9 years. In my opinion it is extreme cruelty even to consider adding one more year to their period of education. Even if it were a just idea, I wonder why the professor had to wait till his age of retirement or until after his son's admission to an engineering college to discover this.