For three years, they trained in fields like biochemistry, transfusion medicine, and radiation oncology. They studied not just to grow as doctors, but to serve the state that sponsored their education. When they returned — degrees in hand — they expected to be specialists.
Instead, they were posted as medical officers, assigned to general outpatient duties, night shifts, and medico-legal cases. Their specialist skills? Left to rust.
In Rajasthan, doctors from at least 13 medical specialties say they are being routinely underutilised by the state government, despite having completed postgraduate training in disciplines deemed critical to modern healthcare.
Many of them underwent this training on government-sanctioned study leave, drawing full salaries during their MD years. But when they returned, they found no posts, no departments, and no recognition for the fields they had invested years into.
From the outside, the contradiction is as startling as it is baffling: the Rajasthan government continues to grant study leave to in-service doctors to pursue specialisations like biochemistry, transfusion medicine, palliative care, and emergency medicine, but has no sanctioned posts in its health department to absorb these specialists once they return.
According to Dr Bharat Pareek, President of the United Doctors Front (Rajasthan), there are zero sanctioned posts for specialists in these 13 disciplines.
As an explanation, a senior health department official reportedly told the Times of India that these specialties were “not required” in district hospitals or satellite centres, suggesting they were only relevant in teaching roles within medical colleges.
But for Dr Pareek, that explanation doesn’t hold up.
“If these weren’t important departments,” he asks, “why is the government sending doctors to specialise in them? Why spend taxpayer money?”
A senior doctor trained in transfusion medicine told EdexLive he would soon be posted not in a lab, not in a transplant unit, but as a general medical officer. He also explained that while opportunities in the private sector are growing, particularly with the rise of transplant centres in cities like Jaipur, he is bound by a five-year state service bond after completing his degree. “I can’t leave. And honestly, I don’t want to. I just want to work in the field I trained for,” he says.
A biochemistry specialist, who asked not to be named, said he hasn’t used his training since completing his MD in 2021. “In the hospital where I’m posted, lab quality control is needed. But no one is doing it. I could. I was trained for it. But I’ve been assigned OPD shifts and night duty instead.”
He has asked hospital administrators to assign him to lab responsibilities. “They never have a satisfactory answer,” he said. “Some think biochemistry doesn’t require a specialist. That anyone can do it.”
In the absence of practice, he tries to stay connected to the field in his own way. “I still attend biochemistry conferences. I don’t want to forget what I learned. I don’t want to lose those three years.”
He had chosen the specialty out of a lifelong interest in genetics and a desire to teach. “Now I just want to finish my bond. Then, maybe, I’ll pursue higher studies.”
One explanation repeatedly offered by doctors is the absence of a formal cadre system for these specialties. Without a cadre, there are no designated posts, no department, and no clear line of service progression. “We’re trained as specialists, but in the eyes of the system, we’re just doctors. Nothing more,” said the biochemist.
In contrast, he pointed to Madhya Pradesh, where a cadre for biochemistry has been created. “They fought for it. And now biochem specialists are recognised. They have proper government roles.”
This systemic gap is harmful to more than just the doctors. It costs the public in three ways: money spent on training that isn’t used, public hospitals deprived of specialist services, and a demoralised health workforce unable to serve at its full potential.
“It’s a waste of public resources,” said the transfusion medicine specialist. “The government pays our salaries while we study. Then pays us again to work outside our specialty. Meanwhile, patients lose access to services we could provide.”
According to a recent CAG audit of Rajasthan’s health department, the state faces a 38.5% shortfall in specialist doctors, and operates with just 65% of the required medical staff. Yet, doctors with MDs in critical fields say they are sitting idle. Or worse, being misassigned.
For many of these doctors, the problem is no longer just professional, it’s personal. “My reality now is so different from what I trained for,” the biochemist said. “It affects your motivation. It affects your mental health.”
Some still hold out hope. “I don’t regret choosing my branch,” he added. “But I do regret what the system did with it.”
Their voices reflect a growing sense of resignation. A sense that no one is listening. A sense that they were trained for a future the government never intended to build.
