New Delhi: Counselling for post-graduate medical admissions will be done only online mode now and colleges will have to declare fees for each course beforehand, said the National Medical Commission (NMC) through their recent notification of 'Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023.'

What NMC said through their new notification:

• No college will admit candidates on their own.
• All rounds of counselling for all PG seats will be held online mode by state or central counselling authorities.
• There shall be common counselling for admission to post-graduate courses in medicine for all medical institutions in India solely based on the merit list of respective exams.
• While entering details in the seat matrix, medical colleges shall mention the amount of fees for each course, failing which seat will not be counted.

 

Changes introduced in the examination system

• Formative assessment and the option of multiple-choice questions were included in university examinations.
• As said by Dr Vijay Oza, president of the Post-Graduate Medical Education Board of the NMC, this change will bring objectivity to examination and will help to match international standards.

Changes made to the District Residency Programme (DRP)

• Previously, a district hospital was defined as a 100-bed hospital. In the new regulations, the requirement has been reduced to 50 beds.
• Under the new DRP, doctors can be trained in a district hospital which shall be a functional public sector/government-funded hospital of not less than 50 beds instead of the previous requirement of 100 beds.
• The DRP aims to train post-graduate students in district health systems and hospitals to strengthen healthcare services at the grassroots level.

Directives on starting new PG courses

• Once a medical college is granted permission to start PG courses or seats, the course will be treated as recognised for registration of qualification for students. This will solve many difficulties faced by students in registering for their degree after passing postgraduate examinations.
• Undergraduate medical colleges can start postgraduate courses from the third year now. Previously it was from the fourth year in clinical specialties.
• Existing or proposed non-teaching hospitals owned and managed by the government can start post-graduate courses without having undergraduate colleges. This will facilitate the government to start postgraduate medical colleges in smaller government hospitals/district hospitals.
• There will be a minimum standard requirement document which will prescribe requirements of infrastructure and faculty clinical material etc. for postgraduate institutes.
• All students will have to undergo courses in research methodology, ethics and cardiac life support skills. 

For better implementation of these regulations, there is a provision of a penalty clause which includes monetary penalty, reduction in number of seats (admission capacity) or complete stoppage of admissions.
(With PTI inputs)