Rigged Admissions, Rampant Donations: Sad Face of Medical Schools

Indian medical colleges have been charged with cases of fraud. Corruption is rampant.

The state of our hospitals, doctors, nursing homes and clinics are admittedly deplorable. A recent Reuters report paints a more terrible picture than we could imagine. From displaying dummy ‘patients’ during inspections to doctors indulging in crimes (even murder) and illegal admissions in medical schools, the list goes on.

Last year in December, Dilshad Chaudhry was accompanying his brother to a medical-school hospital. Along with him, there were many others who were ‘hired’ to be patients since foreign doctors were arriving for an inspection.

Every person was told to lie in a bed even if they’re not sick. They wanted to make sure no one escaped.
– Dilshad Chaudhry to Reuters

Dummy Patients Used to Pass Inspections

In that same month at Muzaffarnagar Medical College, a private college in Uttar Pradesh, government inspectors found that there were adequate patients for the clinical study arranged for the students.

But a year prior to this an inspection revealed that most of the hospital patients “were fake and dummy and seems to be hired from nearby slum area,” according to the official report. “In paediatric ward all children were admitted ... without any medical problem and were hired from nearby area!!!!!”

“I am not very keen to reply,” said Dr. Anil Agarwal, the school’s principal, when asked about the episode with Chaudhry.

Unprofessional methods of training doctors in India is old news. What is shocking is that one out of every six hospitals has been accused of cheating, according to the Reuters study that spanned four months. This whole scam also involves recruiting companies. They flood the medical colleges with doctors to pose as faculty members to pass inspection by government officials.

Rampant Donations, Dubious Admissions

Taking bribes under the decorated name of “donations” is rampant and is commonly accepted.

The next generation of doctors is being taught to cheat and deceive before they even enter the classroom.
–Dr. Anand Rai to Reuters

Dr. Rai exposed a massive cheating ring involving medical school entrance exams in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh in 2013. Rai was given police protection after he received death threats following the bust.

Indian colleges and hospitals get accolades as well as criticism from other countries.

The best medical schools in India are absolutely world class.
–David Gordon, President of the World Federation for Medical Education.

But, he adds that the Indian government’s process of accrediting a “huge” number of recently opened, private medical schools “has at times been highly dubious.”