Medical education is in the news for all the wrong reasons. The government's decision to extend reservations in institutions of higher education under the Centre triggered off a storm of protest, led by medical students. There were spurious arguments on both sides. What has been lost in the heat and dust of the protests are fundamental issues. Is privatisation of medical education hurting the capacity of the system to deliver quality care to the majority of people? Is the distribution of specialisations in post-graduate courses badly skewed? Is the quality of education good enough? And, of course, why is the state health education sector on the brink of collapse? vibha varshney has some of the answers