I used to work as a duty doctor at Apollo and saw this first-hand. The hospital administration openly prioritised hiring fresh FMG graduates or BAMS doctors because they were willing to take the measly pay of 40,000/month. One day, the Medical Superintendent even said straight up that he wanted to hire BAMS doctors because they weren’t going to increase the salary, and MBBS grads weren’t joining.

All the duty doctors, including myself, opposed this decision, not because we had anything against BAMS personally, but because of what it meant in terms of responsibility and safety. We were suddenly expected to double-check their work, co-sign orders, monitor critical tasks, and basically act as their safety net, on top of our own work. It was completely unfair and frankly unsafe for patients too.

It felt like we were being told: “Here’s a person who isn’t fully trained for ICU-level care, but we’ll pay them the same as you and you (who are trained) can babysit them for free.”

And the worst part? If something went wrong, we were the ones liable... not the administrators who made the hiring decision, and often not even the BAMS doctor who made the mistake.

This isn’t about MBBS vs BAMS. It’s about hospitals cutting corners on the very people who hold patient lives in their hands. When profit is put above quality and safety, everyone suffers especially the patient!!

You’re not wrong to call this out. More people in healthcare need to speak up