“Project Eklavya”: To Transform the Indian Health Education System

Abstract

Over 6.3 lakh students have taken this year's pre medial test in India. The total number of MBBS seats in the country is around 52,300. The current doctor population ratio is 1: 1700. The country needs 1, 00,000 graduates yearly to achieve a ratio of 1:1000. Since graduates from public and private funded medical institutions are not motivated to serve in rural settings, increasing the number of places or establishing new medical institutions may not be an effective solution to the issue, as observed by Hazarika. The medical education model proposed in this article, which includes common entry and exist test with flexibility of learning medical education, will make medical education available to all deserving candidates irrespective of their caste, creed, financial status and, most importantly, geographical location. Any deserving candidate from even the remotest part of the country can access the best medical education using the powerful tool of information technology and the vast medical educators’ pool of talent and experience available in the country and abroad. [Saxena R et Al NJIRM 2015; 6(3):118-12