In a recent electronic and print media campaign mounted by the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA), a shameful attempt was made to downgrade and humiliate the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences of the University of Peradeniya, its staff members and its students. Although the motive behind this was unclear, it is noteworthy that the criticisms directed were towards destroying this only faculty in the country, totally dedicated towards uplifting the skills and knowledge of nurses and all allied health workers. The GMOA has tried its best to kill this programme in toto by preventing its students accessing any of the nearby hospitals for their hospital based training. It is anyone’s guess why the most powerful doctors’ trade union in the country wants to sacrifice a pioneering effort made by the government, according to the ‘Mahinda Chinthanaya’ programme to introduce graduate allied health workers training programmes through the universities.

I will be failing in my duty as the dean of this faculty if I remained silent without responding publicly and submit the true facts to counter the malicious comments.

The Faculty of Allied Health Sciences is the 8th and the youngest faculty of the University of Peradeniya, inaugurated in 2007 as an exit manoeuvre to accommodate its first batch of 171 students, who were not allowed to follow their courses as originally planned within the Faculty of Medicine, Peradeniya, due to a heavy protest campaign launched by the medical students and the GMOA despite similar courses being initiated in parallel in other universities, namely at Sri Jayewardenepura, Colombo, Ruhuna and Jaffna within their Faculties of Medicine.

We consider the benefits of allied health science degree programmes to be far outreaching. It will certainly be beyond the provision of an additional opportunity for advanced level students to enter state universities. University degree programmes in allied health subjects are the norm in all developed countries. It would not only help us improve our health care services that are ailing due to shortages of allied health staff, but would provide a novel opportunity to this country for allied health graduates to go up the ladder in education, seek wider employment in the world and establish better service standards and promote research in the said areas of health care.

Educational advances in such professions supplementary to medicine will only help the doctors themselves to achieve the best for their patients.

Even today, affluent citizens of this country seek medical assistance in countries such as England, Australia, Singapore and India or local reputed private hospitals when the need arises at an enormous expense.

Why do they turn to other health care institution away from our National Health Care service? Our doctors are just as skilled and competent as any other similar doctor elsewhere and may sometimes be even better than foreign doctors due to enormous regional experience and practical knowledge they possess.

The reason is the reliability and accountability that the medical services provide in such countries. Why is it so? The laboratory results are reliable and accurate, because the service is maintained by competent graduate staff conscious of quality.

Peradeniya intends to produce such competent people via its BSc Medical Laboratory Science programme.

Abroad, the nursing services encompass special skills in the context of monitoring and even delivering therapy. This is because they are graduate nurses and are trained to do such specific jobs professionally.

In those countries, there is no need to throw away prescribed drugs as they are of quality and delivered in the right dosage with the right instructions. Minimal side effects and interactions are expected because the prescriptions are monitored by the graduate pharmacists. Shouldn’t we produce such pharmacists to improve our prescribing practices and minimise drug side effects?

The radiographers and radiotherapists deliver their service at the highest standard as they are trained to do so via a graduate training programme. Physiotherapists are in great demand as they contribute to human well being through rehabilitation. Do we have a sufficient number of physiotherapists to do this function properly in our country where so many will be in need of this service?

Why it is that the GMOA is interested to keep our allied health workers, who would clearly assist to improve health care in our country educationally at a lower level with no opportunity for higher education? What is the motive?

The courses installed at Peradeniya include 4 year BSc degree programmes for Nursing, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Medical Laboratory Science, Radiography and Radiotherapy.

The last two courses are unique as Peradeniya is the only university in Sri Lanka that offers these programs. The duration of the courses are set on a University Grants Commission (UGC) policy and the universities are legally bound to conduct such programmes once advertised in the UGC hand book and students recruited.

The GMOA claims that these AHS students are of low quality and hence less capable. The fact is that most of these students possess a Z-score of 1.5 – 1.7 at their advanced level examinations, indicating that a majority of AHS students will fall within the top 5% of the students entering universities.

Is there any notable difference in capabilities in the top 5% of the student population in the country? Isn’t it a shame that a learned fraction of the community actively attempts to label a top performing group of students of our population as invalids?

The GMOA is of the view that the Peradeniya hospital is overcrowded and hence cannot allow any more students. It is certainly true for the medical students.

This 600 bed hospital is currently accommodating 200 medical students in the final year for training in the professorial units. Certainly, the professorial units maybe considered overcrowded. No more medical students can go there. However, most allied health students (i.e. pharmacists, medical laboratory scientists, radiographers) need no access to professorial units. There are a few wards that are not assigned officially for medical students training. A few senior nursing students, in small numbers, can access these wards for their special training.

The Pathological laboratory and the X-ray department are accessed by medical students for only six weeks and 12 weeks of the year respectively for their training.

During the remaining times of the year, why cannot allied health students go to those areas for training? Allied health students will not encroach upon any of the welfare facilities existent for medical students in hospital. Yet, they have an equal right to access national property for their training no more but no less than that of medical students. After all, they are following a national training programme in a national university. There are no private enterprises here. Then why all this fuss?

The GMOA has charged that these students are dangerous for health care. Any student is dangerous, if not supervised closely. We all have been students, including GMOA members. Have they forgotten their own past? This is why we all as students are supervised and receive training in skills laboratories before coming into direct contact with patients. The allied health students undergo such training in a skills laboratory situated within the faculty. Unlike medical students, they do not engage themselves in invasive procedures. They are no more dangerous than the medical students, if at all, less so. This is because they are strictly supervised by their senior counterparts working in hospitals i.e. Senior Nurses, Senior Physiotherapists, Senior Pharmacists, Senior MLTs and Senior Radiographers.

The GMOA has created an impression that these courses are sub-standard. We are fully aware that even within the medical profession, such assessments across specialities are virtually impossible. Can a Paediatrician comment on the Obstetrics and Gynaecology curriculum? Similarly, the GMOA is not qualified to comment on Nursing, Pharmacy and other allied health training programmes. The evaluation of a training programme will have to be done by an expert in the respective profession and not by others. For example, it is only an expert in who can Nursing can assess a nursing training programme.

The right thing to do is for the GMOA to invite experts in the respective professions to evaluate the programmes. Then the public and the university will not only take serious note of what they are saying but also welcome the comments, as the evaluation is professional.

It should be noted that allied health degree programmes were designed by local experts in the said professions after international consultations and not by doctors or any other individual. The curricula outlines are available in the faculty web site if anyone is interested to have a look at (www.pdn.ac.lk).

All curricular of the training programmes are also published in the faculty prospectus. Thus, such lose statements will only bring disrepute to the individuals who make such baseless statements without solid evidence and background.

The GMOA demanded that the four year study duration of the above BSc degree programmes should be reduced to three years. How would lesser training lead to better allied health professionals? They have forgotten that most current certificate programmes of allied worker training existent today in this country are of three years duration. Are we to go back to the 20th century or look forward for a better 21st century?

The GMOA implied that all training of these students is conducted by consultants. It is known fact that training of allied health professions are carried out by their respective seniors. It is a nurse who can train a nurse. It is a pharmacist who can train a pharmacist. Consultants certainly participate on invitation to talk about segments of their profession that are of relevance to the respective allied health workers. It should not be forgotten that allied health workers, nurses and doctors work in the same environment. They work to care for the same customer – that is the patient. Thus, it is most important that all professions in health care understand each other. Thus, certainly, a consultant input is needed to bridge this gap. In a time scale, this input will be less that 5% of the training of the most allied health professions that we mention above.

History will repeat itself. Several decades ago, it was the same GMOA that vehemently opposed initiation of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM) in Colombo. Staff and postgraduate student intimidation and strikes nearly forced the PGIM to close. The rescue came from a few PG students who volunteered to participate in its examinations regardless. Today, the PGIM is the saviour of postgraduate education for doctors in this country. The training opportunities abroad for doctors are all virtually closed and doors shut. The value of allied health education would similarly be perceived only after many years. All those who cherish better medical services in this country in the future will simply have to pursue amidst hales and stones to achieve this goal.

Enhancing the educational level of allied health professionals is a national priority, not only to cater for the demand but also to improve the health care services and enhance their chances of recruitment the world over. Freedom for education is a fundamental right and is more important than free education. Education should not be subject to serve a few. Instead, the benefits accrued for the common man through education should be the final determining factor.