In Tamil Nadu, amid the debates about the three-language policy, Union Home Minister Amit Shah urged the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K. Stalin, to consider imparting medical and engineering education in Tamil on March 7, 2025.
This call for imparting medical education in regional language, however, isn’t new nor peculiar to Tamil Nadu. In October 2022, Mr. Shah launched Hindi textbooks for Anatomy, Biochemistry, and Physiology for first-year MBBS students. The same year, the Maharashtra Medical Education Department announced that textbooks for the first year of MBBS would be available in Marathi.
The main objective behind these textbook translations is to promote regional languages, bridge learning gaps for students who don’t come from English medium schools, and enhance communication with patients. As good as it sounds, experts raise doubts about the move because it may keep doctors behind in global knowledge exchange and become a barrier to practicing as a doctor in different states in the country.
Case for the move
Dr. K. Balasubramanian, a former professor at Madras Medical College, recollects his student days at the Stanley Medical College in the 1970’s. Dr. Balasubramanian who had secured admission to the college after school education in Tamil-medium school, found it difficult to cope with the curriculum. “If Tamil translations had been available then, I could have grasped the concepts much faster”, he said.
A 2020 law passed by the Tamil Nadu government had provided a 7.5% horizontal reservation for NEET-qualified government school students in medical admissions. These students who study in Tamil-medium throughout schooling years could be left behind not for their lack of knowledge, but because of language barriers. “These students face challenges in understanding the curriculum and jargon. Translations can help them in understanding the physiological and medical basis of complex concepts”, said Dr. Balasubramanian, who coordinated the translation efforts in the State with collaborations with experts.
The Tamil Nadu Text Book and Educational Services Corporation (TNTBESC) is working to translate and publish medical textbooks across various branches – Anatomy, Biochemistry, Dermatology, Pharmacology, and Forensic Medicine. The translations of medical textbooks such as Guyton and Hall’s Textbook of Medical Physiology and Gray’s Anatomy were carried out by experts proficient in both Tamil and English. Chapters were checked, revised, and corrected, sent through multiple rounds of scrutiny before finally being approved by the government. “It’s not just about translating words or sentences; it’s about making complex theories and concepts easy to understand,” said Dr. Balasubramanian.
But this move isn’t just about helping students from non-English medium schools. Dr. Jayashree Sharma, an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, who has been part of translation efforts believes professional education in one’s mother tongue builds students’ knowledge foundation better. “It’s easier to understand and communicate when the concepts are taught in a language you’re familiar with. It also helps during practice, as you can communicate better with patients in their native language”, she said.
Potential challenges
Experts say this move is not for replacing English or claiming one language is better than the other. It just aims to bridge the learning gap with a multilingual approach. Dr. Balasubramanian says that in every translation, the English jargon has been written in brackets beside the Tamil words.
Despite the advantages, some experts questioned if students would really use the translated books when exams and degrees were in English. Dr. Pravin H. Shingare, Former Director of Medical Education and Research, Maharashtra State, Mumbai, says if students have to take exams in English, there is a rare chance that they will refer to books in regional languages.
Mr. Shingare reflects on a move by the Maharashtra government thirty years ago. He says the government had provided funds to medical institutes to start English coaching for students from rural areas. The move was lauded by everyone but never picked up. The funds remained unused as students never showed up for these classes. “Students would feel inferiority complex, as attending these classes meant admitting they were not good at English, and hence very few students showed up”, said Mr. Shingare.
Beyond India
In Ukraine, while Bachelor’s level education is available in English, for Master’s one compulsorily needs to know Ukrainian. Foreign students need to produce B2 level proficiency certificate in Ukrainian language to secure admission for Master’s degree.
Vaibhavi Nazare, an Indian student from Maharashtra is currently serving as a doctor intern in Surgery in Ukraine. She studied both her Bachelor’s and Master’s in the country. To serve as a doctor there, Ms. Nazare has mastered not only the day-to-day Ukrainian language for better communication with patients but also medical terms for doing the paperwork. Ms. Nazare says, “It is mandatory to know, speak, and write fluently in the Ukrainian language to understand the patients’ complaints and symptoms”.
One needs to put in extra efforts to learn the language beyond the college hours in order to keep up. “With paperwork especially, the language was difficult, the letters are completely different. I needed some time to adapt and understand how formal language is supposed to be written, but with the help of seniors, it was manageable”, said Ms. Nazare.
Published – April 09, 2025 06:29 pm IST