Implementation of ‘Charak Samhita’ in Govenment Madurai Medical College invites the wrath of MK Stalin

The white coat ceremony of first-year MBBS students at Madurai Medical College has surprisingly snowballed into a political controversy.

In fact, the dean of the medical college Dr. A Rathinavel seems to have invited the wrath of the MK Stalin government. Why? Let’s find out.

Madurai College students take ‘Maharishi Charak Shapath’ instead of Hippocratic oath

First-year MBBS students of Government Madurai Medical College took ‘Maharishi Charak Shapath’ instead of the Hippocratic oath during their induction ceremony on Saturday.

The Maharishi Charak Shapath is the new oath recommended for administration to first-year MBBS students, according to the guidelines of the National Medical Commission (NMC).

But this seems to have angered the DMK government in Tamil Nadu.

Dean relieved of his post

On Sunday, Dr. A Rathinavel was relieved of his post and put on waiting list on the directions of the Tamil Nadu health department.

A departmental inquiry has reportedly been initiated to probe into violation of protocol on the directions of director of medical education Dr. R Narayanababu and state health minister Ma Subramanian.

Interestingly, the induction ceremony had taken place after white coats were given to the students by Tamil Nadu minister Palanivel Thiagarajan. The Minister too expressed shock over the new recommended oath.

Read more: The Hippocratic oath is going to be replaced by Charak Shapath

Ideology clashing with culture

We wonder why there should be a problem with administration of the Maharishi Charak Shapath. Seemingly, BJP leader Narayanan Thirupathy too cannot understand this. He said, “Hippocratic oath is westernised way of taking pledge.NMC recommended old Indian way of medicine (Maharshi Charak Shapath). Unnecessary politics should be avoided. The Centre said it’s optional. Why should you suspend Dean? DMK has always loved westernised model”.

The move to censure Maharishi Charak Shapath seems that much more exceptionable because Charaka is one of India’s greatest physicians till date.

Author of the ancient Indian medical treatise, Charaka-Samhita. He heralded the beginning of the golden period of Indian medicine which from 800 BCE to around 1000 CE. Charaka is also credited for playing a pivotal role in development of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian study of Medical Sciences.

Above all, Charaka followed professional behaviour and medical ethics. He encouraged being faithful towards patients, maintaining privacy and secrecy of the patients, full devotion towards treatment of patients, maintaining a good mental balance and staying active in practice of medicine.

So, does it not make a lot of sense for Indian medicine students to take an oath of following Charaka’s ideas?

I have nothing against the Hippocratic Oath. However, there is no reason why Indian students should be swearing a Western oath.

Read more: India is rejecting Macaulay’s system of Education and there is nothing wrong with that

And it is also true that the old Greek oath is now becoming outdated and it is believed that it doesn’t address issues of relevance today. Many medical colleges around the world continue administering it as a mere convention.

However, for Indian medical students, it makes sense to take the Charaka Shapath instead of reading the Hippocratic Oath. After all, Charaka is the most capable medicine student produced by the nation till date.