Several hospitals offer unapproved diploma courses in physiotherapy
Physiotherapists association demand action against unapproved institutions that offers five year course on physiotherapy in Coimbatore on Monday (Photo: DC/File)
Coimbatore:Amid the mushrooming of unapproved physiotherapy colleges in and around Coimbatore, the physiotherapists association has demanded a crack down on hospitals in the city that offer unrecognised courses in physiotherapy.
In a petition to collector Archana Patnaik on Monday, the association said the future of scores of students was at stake because of these unrecognised and unapproved courses. According to Dr V. Raja Selvakumar, president of the association, several hospitals in the city offer unapproved diploma courses in physiotherapy, running for a year or two. An approved course in physiotherapy is a four-and-a-half-year course with six months as training period. The hospital must obtain approval from the Dr MGR Medical University, Chennai.
The medical university provides affiliation only to 100-bed hospitals and genuine physiotherapists are those who undergo the five-year course. Those getting diploma after the one- or two-year course have been competing with degree holders who have a five-year, approved, degree certificate.
Several students and parents are duped as they have no knowledge whether the courses offered have due recognition. Despite the eligibility criteria being a 60 per cent aggregate in plus-two, physiotherapy courses are being offered to those who have secured just pass or those who hold a class 10 certificate. Hospitals which have been offering this course have been doing so with affiliation to Bharath Seva Samaj (BSS) which is an unrecognised agency, alleged Dr Selvakumar.
Such diploma holders offer physiotherapy care without proper training, leading to deterioration in the quality of physiotherapists and danger to patients. "They are also denting the employment opportunities of genuine degree holders as diploma holders are hired for a very low salary."
Diploma courses can be offered if the hospital offering the course conforms to the norms on bed strength, availability of a full-fledged department and a qualified physiotherapist, said Dr L.P. Thangavelu, member of the medical council. Short-term diploma courses can be offered if they have approval from the director of medical education or agencies associated with the ministry of human resource development.
Nevertheless, they cannot be equated with physiotherapists who undergo the five-year degree course, he agreed.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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