Madurai Medical College dean, removed over students taking Charaka Shapath oath, reinstated

Tamil Nadu health minister Ma Subramanian has informed the State Assembly that Dr Rathinavel will be reinstated as the dean of Madurai Medical College. This was announced by the state health minister on Wednesday, May 5. Dr Rathinavel was earlier removed from his position as dean after first-year students took the Charaka Shapath instead of the Hippocratic Oath on April 30.

The Charaka Shapath versus the Hippocratic Oath row came to the fore again on April 30. The induction ceremony of first year students of Madurai Medical College on Saturday took a controversial turn when they ended up taking an oath of the modified ‘Maharshi Charaka Shapath’ instead of the Hippocratic oath.

The Maharishi Charaka Shapath is an oath which is present in the ancient ayurvedic text, ‘Charaka Samhita’. The Maharishi Charaka Shapath has been criticised for being unsuitable to the ethics of modern medical practice.

The difference between the Maharishi Charaka Shapath and the Hippocratic oath is that the latter requires physicians to treat patients regardless of background and character, while the Charaka Shapath says, “No people who are hated by the king or who are haters of the king or who are hated by the public or who are haters of the public, shall receive treatment.”

Tamil Nadu finance minister, Thiaga Rajan, who was present at the ceremony, took to Twitter to share a copy of the oath read out by the medical students in Madurai.

 

 

Following this, Dr Rathinavel, Dean of Madurai Medical College, was suspended. Now, the TN health minister has reinstated him to his previous position.

Meanwhile, Madurai Medical College students, who took an oath of the modified ‘Maharshi Charaka Shapath’ instead of the Hippocratic oath, said that they were merely following the NMC (National Medical Council) guidelines on the medical oath.

The president of Madurai Medical College Students Council, Jyothish Kumaravel, said that they followed the National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines on medical oath.

The president said that the circular stating only the Hippocratic Oath must be taken was issued only on Sunday, a day after the controversy erupted.

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