Open AccessPsychiatry postgraduate examinations for 2020 in the middle of COVID19 crisis: Suggestions from Indian teachers of psychiatry
Author(s) -
M Kishor,
Henal Shah,
Suhas Chandran,
Ashok Mysore,
Ajay Kumar,
Vikas Me,
HR Vinay,
Mohan Isaac,
O. P. Singh
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
indian journal of psychiatry/indian journal of psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.485
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1998-3794
pISSN - 0019-5545
DOI - 10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_482_20
Subject(s) - workforce , pandemic , covid-19 , mental health , psychiatry , medical education , medicine , psychology , political science , law , disease , pathology , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , virology
The COVID19 pandemic is an unprecedented disaster. In India, the spread of COVID19 infection and the subsequent lockdown coincided with a crucial period of the annual examination in almost all educational institutions. The pandemic has created hurdles in the conduct of examination due to many reasons, some of which are spread of infection and associated safety issues, lack of public transport for patients as well as the postgraduates in outstation and examiners, and lack of workforce due to round-the-clock service for rendering health services leading to difficulty in arranging logistics at the examination center. Currently, there are no guidelines or policies on how examinations need to be carried out during such a pandemic. Hence, there is an urgent need to look at solutions within the profession for the completion of examination. Teachers of psychiatry play an important role in the national mental health services. Their expertise can be valuable for finding solutions that work. This article has compiled suggestions from Indian teachers of psychiatry.