GMOA have made unreasonable allegations

30 September 2011 04:00 pm

The South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) today charged that the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) was practicing double standards by asserting that government medical faculty lecturers should not teach in private institutions when many government doctors are engaged in private practice.

SAITM Director Dr. Sameera Senaratne said the GMOA was making unreasonable accusations against the private medical college. “The GMOA has been very unfair on us and has been misleading the public by making very incorrect statements,” Dr. Senaratne said.

He said the institution had not been advised to stop recruiting students though the GMOA stated that the institution was requested to stop recruiting students until a five member committee appointed by the Health Ministry completed its inquiry on the standards of the institution. He said SAITM had stopped recruiting students and that the next intake would only take place next February.

He denied that the students’ grades were inadequate stating that the institution followed a University Grants Commission (UGC) criterion which is a minimum requirement of three simple passes, which is also followed by government medical faculties. He said however that since last year the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) has requested for a minimum of two credits and one simple pass. “The UGC and the SLMC should agree on a standard requirement as this could create a conflict,” he said.

Dr. Senaratne welcomed anyone to visit the institution in Malabe to find out its level of standards and said that those who questioned the grades of SAITM students could find out the actual picture of the Colllege for themselves by paying a visit.

Contrary to statements made by the GMOA, lecturers who have not sat for the Act16 exam do not teach medicine, but teach pre-medicine subjects such as the history of medicine, Latin and medical terminology, philosophy and medical physics he said. He added that a number of government medical faculty professors also teach at SAITM. Most of these Professors have taught many of the doctors of the GMOA Dr. Senaratne said. (Olindhi Jayasundere)