India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the second most populous country. In spite of rapid development achieved in other fields, the performance when judged on healthcare parameters remains poor. One of the dominant discourses in the public health domain within the context of the provision of Universal Health Coverage is the shortage of an adequate number of qualified medical doctors and other healthcare professionals in India. World Health Organization (WHO) has promulgated desirable doctor–population ratio as 1:1,000.
Yet, over 44% of WHO Member States reported less than one physician per 1,000 population. [1] Responding to this challenge, there has been a major thrust on increasing the capacity of graduate training programs (MBBS) at medical institutions across India. India has two systems of qualified, professionally trained, and registered medical doctors.…
