Calcutta Medical College principal says administering Charak Shapath was mistake

After the new MBBS batch of Medical College Hospital in Kolkata reading out Charak Shapath instead of the Hippocratic oath triggered a controversy in West Bengal, the principal of Calcutta Medical College has said it was a mistake.

Ever since National Medical Commission (NMC) has suggested replacing the Hippocratic oath with the Charak Sharath during the graduation ceremony of doctors, it attracted all kinds of reactions from the medical fraternity and political parties. In West Bengal, after the new MBBS batch of Medical College Hospital in Kolkata took the Charak Shapath instead of the Hippocratic oath, it triggered a war of words between the ruling Trinamool Congress and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Now, Dr Raghunath Mishra, the principal of Calcutta Medical College has said that administering the Charak Shapath was a mistake due to a misunderstanding of communication.

He said, "A few days back, there was a video conference with officials of NMC. During that conference, there was a reference to Charak Shapath. Our staff and officials misunderstood it as an official guideline (to be compulsorily followed) and administered it to first-year students. It was a mistake on our part... we misunderstood the reference to be an official guideline," as reported by News 18.

He also added that the interns normally read the age-old code of ethics Hippocratic Oath which asks doctors to pledge beneficial treatment, to refrain from causing harm and to maintain the secrecy of a patient's confidences. 

"There has never been any instances where we have administered Charak Oath. We only follow the centuries-old system of administering Hippocratic Oath," the principal added.

Charak Shapath: NMC suggestion received mixed reactions

The NMC suggestion in this regard has got a mixed reaction from the medical fraternity. Many doctors protested and said that the hallowed tradition followed internationally was being sought to be replaced by a new oath based on Shlokas merely to support certain ideologies. Whereas, other doctors see no harm in changing the tradition.

Read more:

• Fresh MBBS batch of Calcutta Medical College read out Charak Shapath
• Oath taking is important rather than any depiction of specification, says Mansukh Mandaviya