Special lectures for medical students with low attendance to qualify them for exams

Mumbai: Nearly 180 medical students who were at risk of not being allowed to appear for their examinations due to lack of attendance have another chance as the administration of Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College (LTMMC) and General Hospital in Sion have started special lectures and tutorials from Thursday to qualify them for the exams conducted by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences scheduled next month.

On October 10, HT reported that around 180 medical students from LTMMC and Dr RN Cooper Medical College and General Hospital-Vile Parle were at risk of not being allowed to appear for their exams owing to lack of attendance.

An undergraduate medical curriculum includes lectures, practicals, tutorials and clinical classes, and a student requires 75% attendance to appear for theory papers and 80% attendance to attend practical sessions. Sources said many medical students have 35-40% attendance.

According to the respective hospital administration, these medical undergraduates- 125 from LTMG Sion Hospital and 55 from Cooper Hospital failed to have mandatory attendance. After the respective medical colleges informed the students that they would not be allowed to appear in the examination, the parents approached the dean and higher authorities including the additional municipal commissioner of the corporation to reconsider the decision.

“We are working in the interest of the students. We are not here to victimise them and the decision to take special lectures and tutorials is to help them. However, we will counsel the students on the importance of attending the lectures and not to repeat the mistake in future,” said Dr Mohan Joshi, dean of LTMMC and General Hospital, who added that the lectures are planned till the day before the exams.

While parents have threatened to approach court if their students are not allowed to sit for the exams, Dr RN Cooper Medical College and General Hospital, which had 55 students with low attendance, is yet to take a decision on whether to hold special lectures for the students.

“We have followed the rules to date. Both the parents and students were aware of the low attendance and still neither of them took it seriously. The students were sensitised and counselled on the rules and regulations to qualify for the exams. We cannot jeopardise the health of people by allowing such half-baked medical students to appear in exams,” said the official from Cooper Hospital.