Nepal Medical Association Objects to PhD Requirement for University Vice-Chancellor Positions

Kathmandu. The Nepal Medical Association has expressed serious objection to the government's recent provision requiring a minimum educational qualification of Doctorate (PhD) for appointments to high positions including university vice-chancellors.  

Issuing a press release on Saturday, the association concluded that such a provision, brought by disregarding the specificity of the medical field and the existing educational structure, would be an injustice to senior professors.

The press release recalled the fact that MD, MS, and MDS are recognized as high-level degrees in Nepal's medical field. Although the situation of obtaining and awarding doctorates in medical fields is low in Nepal, the association stated that making this the minimum qualification would deprive qualified and senior doctors of opportunities.  

The association clarified that it is not just to deem senior professors, who have been contributing to medical education for years and hold MD, MS, and MDS degrees, as ineligible, when they are the ones who teach and supervise students at DM, MCh, and PhD levels.

In the press release issued by Dr. Sanjeev Tiwari, General Secretary of the Medical Association, a demand has been made to the government to respect the qualifications of senior professors in the medical and dental fields.  

The association has strongly demanded that MD, MS, and MDS be recognized as high educational qualifications in the medical field and that this discriminatory policy seen in the appointment of academic positions like vice-chancellor be corrected.  

The association's conclusion is that the new criteria brought by the government, which should consider practical and field-specific expertise when selecting leadership in the academic sector, will lower the dignity of medical education and the morale of senior human resources.