Andhra Pradesh

Dearth of teachers in medical education

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, MARCH 10. The severe shortage of qualified faculty in the State's Government teaching and medical hospitals seems to have no end in near sight.

The Directorate of Medical Education (DME), which advertised vacancies for 540 posts in State-run teaching hospitals in August 2004, is now forced to be content with the recruitment of just 215 assistant professors in 14 specialties.

The reason, a senior official of the directorate says, can be either lack of qualified people, or the more possible fact that many medical post graduates prefer private medical colleges to Government institutions.

"We could recruit only 215 assistant professors for whom the orders will be issued in a couple of days. For the rest of the vacancies, we might have to go for fresh recruitment next year," the Deputy Director of the DME, I.V. Rao, said.

The recruitment drive is part of the Government's effort to streamline the State's medical colleges as per the Medical Council of India norms. The Government has sounded a notice to all teaching hospitals and medical colleges in the State to send their staff requirements to the DME, following which a big list of vacancies, some of which have been awaiting posting for years together, has emerged. This list has been pruned and short-listed to 540 vacancies. And now, even that is being found difficult to be filled up.

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