New Delhi: Dismissing reports which claimed that the Hippocratic oath taken by doctors will be replaced by Charak Shapath, the National Medical Commission (NMC) said, “A modified Maharishi Charak Shapath is recommended when a candidate is introduced to medical education.” The NMC made the clarification in a circular released on March 31. Besides, the Minister of State for Health Bharati Pawar in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said that there had been “no proposal of replacement of Hippocratic Oath with Charak Shapath”.
IMA Opposes Charak Shapath
Taking strong objection, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) met the Union health minister this week and discussed the matter. “We raised the issue of replacing the Hippocratic Oath with Charak Shapath with the minister. He assured us that it will not be forced on medical students and will be optional,” IMA national president Dr Sahajanand Prasad Singh told The New Indian Express.
“The minister said what is more important is that doctors’ follow ethics while treating patients,” Singh added.
What is the Hippocratic Oath?
The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear, by a number of healing gods, to uphold specific ethical standards. The oath is the earliest expression of medical ethics in the Western world, establishing several principles of medical ethics which remain of paramount significance today. These include the principles of medical confidentiality and non-maleficence.
What’s New in NMC’s New Undergraduate Course Curriculum
- The NMC’s circular further stated that the new competency-based medical education for undergraduate course curriculum is being implemented with the objectives of covering all three domains of learning – Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor.
- “The new course curriculum introduced in August 2019 enriched the medical students with a sound base and balanced approach to overall aspect with the introduction of foundation courses which includes Family Adoption Programme, Yoga, Meditation, Local Language adaptation and skills,” reads the circular.
- All medical colleges in states and UTs have been directed to implement the new course.
- The NMC circular mainly lists the guidelines that need to be followed because of the time redistribution for the course in the professional year of 2021-22 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The duration of the first professional course has been reduced from 14 months to 12 months. The curriculum of UG CBME will be considered from February 14, 2022 in all medical colleges across the country.
- The NMC has implemented the ‘Family Adoption Programme’ as a part of the curriculum of community medicine which will begin from first professional year and will remain throughout the curriculum. The Family Adoption will include villages which are not covered under PHC. Yoga training has also been recommended to be initiated during foundation courses.
