Health care delivery system and surgical education in India

In India health care delivery and medical education are largely governmental functions. India cannot afford a national health service. However, it has a national health policy based on the primary health care approach, with emphasis on rural health in order to achieve the World Health Organization's goal of "Health for All" by 2000 AD. Health care delivery is represented by the public sector as well as the private sector. Nearly 80% of the health facilities, both public and private, are concentrated in the urban areas. Hence despite its best efforts, the government has not been able to make medical education need-based. The postgraduate surgical trainees are not exposed to rural work owing to inadequate facilities and resources in rural areas. Surgical residents get their training in teaching hospitals located in urban areas. Most of the public sector teaching hospitals as well equipped to impact training to the residents according to the guidelines of the Medical Council of India (MCI), the apex governing body. However, the rapid advancement in medical technology over the last decade, the government is finding it increasingly difficult to keep these teaching hospitals up-to-date. Of late, some of the sophisticated private sector hospitals are therefore sharing the onus of surgical education, especially at the subspeciality level. Thus despite the good intentions of government planning a two class system of health care delivery has come into being and a two class system of medical education is foreseeable.