The demand for medicine to be taught in languages besides English has been made repeatedly over the years, and was reiterated most recently by Union Home Minister Amit Shah when he said instruction in medicine, engineering and law should be made available in Indian languages. Over the years, academicians have considered the advantages, demerits and challenges of such a move. Dr. Sudha Seshayyan and Dr. M. Janakiram explore the various aspects of the issue in a conversation moderated by Serena Josephine M. Edited excerpts:
Do you think it is possible to have a regional language as a medium of instruction in medicine? And is there a need to promote Indian languages in higher learning?
Sudha Seshayyan: First, the question relates to a long-term perspective. In that case, it is possible. I have travelled in countries where medicine is taught in Spanish, German and so on. So, it is possible with certain modifications. We probably cannot be water-tight with our words, especially with technical terms. When we say a regional language, there could be an overlap of words from different languages.
