The two medical colleges have been allowed to start admissions from the 2018-19 academic session.
A three-member team of the MCI had reviewed infrastructure and other necessary facilities at Bolangir and Balasore medical colleges on April 23. The team had also reviewed facilities like auditorium, classrooms and laboratories at the hospitals.
Moreover, MCI has also approved 100 seats each for the second academic session of Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College in Baripada and Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital in Koraput.
The Centre had approved establishment of five government medical college and hospitals at Balasore, Koraput, Bolangir, Baripada and Puri in 2014.
The Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Central government are mulling to make practical training of MBBS students mandatory from the first year instead of second year and a notification in this regard will be issued shortly, informed sources.
Apart from this, medical students will also be given attitude, ethics and communication training so as to put a check on incidents of doctor-attendant clashes in hospitals across the country.
"If students can get exposure to clinical teachings through practical courses right from the first year, then they can meet the expectations of patients and become successful doctors," said an expert, Basant Pati.
The MCI has decided to adopt the new curriculum called 'Competency Based Integrated Curriculum' replicating the model prepared by the World Federation for Medical Education.
Several aspirants who are keen to pursue medical courses have welcomed such change in the curriculum that is certainly unique and aims to bring out the best doctors.
"It is certainly a good step. If the students get acclimatised with practical sessions, it will help them to discharge their duties with utmost care and caution," said Prativa Ghose, an aspirant.
Sumanshree, another medical student stated that "Usually practical classes are not given importance in 10th and 12th standards and it may create some problems as it is being introduced for the first time. But we hope these changes will be beneficial for students."
The visit by the MCI team assumes significance as MBBS seats at the SCB were increased from 150 to 250 in 2013. As per MCI guidelines, the team visited the hospital to take stock of the infrastructure and manpower required to retain the additional 100 seats, official sources said.
The officials, who are on a two-day visit to the hospital, inspected hostels, classrooms and the newly built academic block and other facilities at SCB.
The team also reviewed infrastructural facilities of various departments, including medicines, pulmonary medicine, neurology, cardiology and cancer unit. The officials discussed several issues with the Dean and Principal of the SCBMCH and later visited various other wards and departments at the hospital.
Later, two members of the team left for Jagatsinghpur to review infrastructure and facilities in the periphery hospitals today.
Citing an example from Kendrapara district, Baijayant highlighted that how incompetent people from neighbouring countries are coming and providing medical services, which is disconcerting.
While the government is looking at Ayurveda (AYUSH) doctors as an alternative to fill vacancies, Baijayant flagged concerns saying that Ayurveda is a different approach to treatment. Ayurveda is mostly used as a preventive measure and an Ayurveda doctor cannot administer Allopathy treatment, he added.
Hence, more and more number of medical colleges is a permanent solution to doctor shortage, said Baijayant while welcoming the restructuring of MCI.
In response to Baijayant, the concerned minister said the problem highlighted is definitely concerning and required steps will be taken in this regard.
A team of representatives of the MCI State unit woud later meet Governor SC Jamir and submit a memorandum addressed to the President of India.
Healthcare services at outpatient departments (OPDs) of various private hospitals in the state are affected by the protest while emergency services are functioning normally, said a member of the MCI State unit.
The Centre is likely to table the NMC Bill in the Parliament for discussion today. The Bill seeks to replace the MCI and also proposes allowing practitioners of alternative medicines, such as homoeopathy and ayurveda, practise allopathy after completing a bridge course. It has provisions that chairman and othe members of the body would be nominated by the Government of India.
The MCI termed the Bill as undemocratic and anti-federal in character.
https://youtu.be/fB_vw-RYXBQ
Students will be taught as per the new curriculum from the 2018 academic year.
The MCI has included the new undergraduate programme to orient students in ethics, patient safety, national health priorities and alternate health systems among others. Besides, the students will get an early clinical exposure, an MCI release read.
Students have welcomed the move of MCI and believe the new programme will help enhance doctor-patient relationship.
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“I welcome the move of the medical council. But its effectiveness depends a lot on how the government implements it,” said Chinmaya Pradhan, an MBBS student at SCB, Cuttack.
Another student of SCB, Satyajeet Nayak, said such programmes are needed for all. “If the new curriculum helps students enhance their work ethics then it will be great,” said Nayak.
“The new step of MCI is commendable taking into account the growing resentment of people towards doctors. I believe the programme will help doctors regain people’s faith,” said Basant Pati, a Gynaecologist.
Meanwhile, as per the release, the new syllabus will be common throughout the country to ensure uniformity.
https://youtu.be/JrlQh6TDynQ
The notification and online application forms for the examination are likely to be released in January though no official notice has been published yet.
As per the recent report by a leading English daily, the NEET 2018 will be held on May 10 and admission to deemed universities will begin from July 10. Sources said the Medical Council of India (MCI) will complete the admission process for the medical and dental courses by August 18.
Last year, the entrance examination was held on May 7, 2017 though controversies like dress code row and anti-NEET protest in Tamil Nadu had marred the national level entrance examination. Out of the 10,90,085 students who had appeared in the NEET exam, 6,11,539 passed the examination.
How to apply for CBSE NEET 2018
Aspirants will have to apply for the national eligibility cum entrance test through online application forms. The application forms would be made available on the official website cbseneet.nic.in. No offline or paper and pen applications will be accepted by the CBSE.
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Age limit
In 2017, the CBSE had put a lower and upper age limit of 17 years and 25 years, respectively, for appearing in NEET examination. After Supreme Court's intervention, CBSE had rolled back the upper age limit criteria for NEET 2017 examination. Though there is no clarity on whether the board would include an upper age limit criteria for the test yet, the lower age limit, however, is expected to remain unchanged.
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Is there a limit to the number of attempts for CBSE NEET 2018?
As per NEET 2017 notification released by CBSE, the number of attempts for NEET was capped at three. However, the NEET 2017 would be considered as the first attempt for all candidates. The rule is expected to stay for NEET 2018 as well.
Is Aadhaar Card mandatory for applying for CBSE NEET 2018?
Since the CBSE has made Aadhaar card mandatory for all examinations conducted by the board, Aadhaar is most likely to be mandatory for CBSE NEET 2018 as well. All candidates are suggested to apply for Aadhaar card if they don't have one yet.
In Balasore, a three member MCI team took stock of the ongoing works at the under-construction campus building and also assessed infrastructure at the district headquarters hospital.
Wards at the DHH would serve as practical classes for the doctors in the initial phase.
Construction of the college buildings is in last stage and the district administration has instructed the construction agency to ensure completion of laboratories, hostel and all other facilities before handing over to the college authorities.
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Special importance is being given to appointment of doctors. As many as 27 residents have been appointed as junior doctors at the newly constructed hospital.
“We have already recruited Senior, Junior and Assistant Professors and are waiting for works to complete. As soon as we get MCI nod we will initiate academic process,” Charubala Ratha, ADMO, Balasore said.
The 100 seater hospital is likely to start functioning from the next academic session.
Similarly, another team of MCI also inspected facilities at the under-construction medical college building and reviewed preparedness of Bolangir district headquarters hospital which will serve as the medical college for the first three years.
Meanwhile, the health department has assured that the government is providing all necessary facilities to meet MCI standards at both the new colleges.
Odisha had two medical colleges at Cuttack and Burla until 1962 when the MKCG Medical College came up in Berhampur.
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The Centre has approved establishment of five Government medical colleges and hospitals notably at Balasore, Koraput, Balangir, Baripada and Puri in 2014.
While medical colleges at Koraput and Baripada have started functioning from this year the other three are yet to get MCI nod.
Addressing a public lecture on 'National Health Programmes' at the SOA University here on Saturday, Prasad said, "The new syllabus may be ready in another one and half years. What is the need to teach a student 10 different surgeries at MBBS level when all they need is to acquire a good knowledge as to how to treat common diseases," he said.
Besides, Prasad stressed the need to have a pharmaco vigilance committee to monitor use of antibiotics in every medical college and said, "Antibiotic resistance is worse than cancer as it cannot be treated."
Leprosy eradication had been largely successful in different states but the problem still persists in Odisha, Chhatisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand. As many as 40,000 leprosy cases have been detected so far of which a total of 5100 are from Odisha only, he said.
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Prasad said Odisha, along with Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and Meghalaya, accounted for 80 per cent of malaria cases even as the government has drawn up a plan to eliminate the vector-borne disease in the country by 2025.
"Odisha accounts for 40 per cent of the malaria cases and we aim to reduce the incidence in the country by one-third this year," he added.
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Besides, Prasad advised youths to go for regular exercise, yoga and stay away from smoking and alcohol to avoid non-communicable diseases.
In 2008, the MCL had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government to look after all necessary management and operation of the Institute. 20 acres of land was also allotted for the project and a budget of nearly Rs 500 crore was also allocated for the same. Later in 2015, the Chief Minister laid foundation stone for the 100-seater medical college and 500-bed super speciality hospital.
However, the MCL recently sent a notice to the state government informing it about its decision to step down from the deal.
“The civil construction of the medical college is almost over and finishing touch is being given to the institute. Other fitting works are continuing in main building and also in hostels and official quarters. We are going as per schedule. Our decision to step down from the deal has become a matter of debate. Discussions are underway and final decision will be taken,” L N Mishra, Director Personnel, MCL said.
On the other hand, local MLA said pressure will be put on the MCL to withdraw their decision. “All necessary clearances and permission from the Medical Council of India (MCI) and State's forest department are yet to be given to the institute. In coming days health minister will call for a meeting in which the MCL authorities will be pressurised to stick to the MoU,” Talcher MLA Brajakishore Pradhan said.
Meanwhile, district administration is hopeful that the medical college would be ready to intake admissions from the next academic session.
The deceased was identified as Udit Pradhan, a resident of Bonai in Sundergarh district.
Family members said Udit was staying with his friend in a rented-flat at Basantkunj area of Delhi. His father Manguli Pradhan had spoken to him on phone on July 2 for the last time and since then his phone has remained in switch off mode.
Sensing trouble, Manguli sent a relative to Delhi to enquire about his son. On July 6, he was informed that Udit is no more.
Family suspects hand of his friend, with whom Udit was staying, behind the death. "Police recovered the body three days after the death inside his room. One of his friends was staying in another room in the same flat. How he was not able to know about the incident even after three days?" alleged Manguli.
On the other hand local police registered a case suo motu regarding the case and started investigation.
Besides, the state government has also appointed new Dean and Superintendent for the medical college.
Dean Lalit Kumar Meher along with a four-member team recently inspected the college infrastructure and facilities available.
However, since construction of its independent hospital building has not started yet, the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) would be used as the hospital for the medical college.
Meher said, "This is a government medical college. So the government has to do everything. Apart from appointing doctors for the institution, the college requires all possible help from all the departments. Everybody has to be involved including the paramedical staff as well as nurses.”
We hope the Medical Council of India (MCI) grants permission to start admissions next year, said Meher.
"The Odisha government should by far start the admission process in 2018. The Dean and four other officials including Superintendent have already been recruited. Other faculty members would also be recruited in the next phase," said Local MLA and Opposition leader Narsingha Mishra.
Health and Family Welfare Department on Monday held MCI responsible for not taking steps to issue Letter of Permission (LOP) for commencement of 100 undergraduate intakes from 2017-18 academic sessions.
In a letter to Secretary, Supreme Court Mandate Oversight committee, Shesh Kumar, Odisha Health Secretary P.K. Meherda clarified that Odisha had earlier sought LoP for two medical colleges—Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College, Baripada and Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital, Koraput in June 2016.
The permissions for establishment of New Medical Colleges were sought under Central Sponsored Scheme (CSS).
MCI team had subsequently taken stock of infrastructure, construction works and other facilities at both the upcoming medical colleges in December last year.
Odisha Government, on the other hand, claimed that all the prescribed guidelines by the MCI have been complied and a report has been submitted to the Centre.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had, during his meeting with Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, urged for letter of permission (LOP) for the two medical colleges at Baripada and Koraput for starting the first batch of admission from 2017-18 session.
Another reminder in this regard was also sent by the State Government on April 27 for MCI inspection and LOP.
In its argument, Odisha government has contested that Mayurbhanj district under which the Baripada medical college falls has 58.7 percent tribal population.
Hence, a medical college in the area is highly essential for overall health and socio-economic development of the poor people including from neighbouring states of West Bengal and Jharkhand.
"I have urged the Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda to intervene in the matter. We are hopeful that the academics will start at Baripada medical college from this year, “said Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Superintendent of SLN Medical College Sitaram Mohapatra said that the admission process for the 100 seats would begin once the letter of permission (LoP) comes from the centre.
“The MCI team was satisfied during its inspection here. The Minimum Standard Requirements as per MCI guidelines, starting from facilities to college infrastructure including library and hostels for 100 students have been completed. The team has left on a very positive note,’’ Mohapatra said.
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As per the process, the MCI team will send its recommendation to Government of India basing on which the Centre will grant the LoP. ‘’We hope the LoP will be granted soon and we can start the admission process,” expressed Mohapatra.
The medical college is yet to get necessary approvals for academics as the Medical Council of India (MCI) team is yet to review the necessary infrastructure here.
Official sources said, MCI had taken stock of the infrastructure and facilities at Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital in December last year.
Though the team had assessed the facilities in Koraput, they had not come for inspection at Baripada which has led to severe resentment among the local residents.
“We do not see any chances as already the date for MCI visit has expired. It is unfortunate that Mayurbhanj being a tribal belt is being neglected as no adequate focus is being given on development of healthcare here,” Abhijit Kumar Rout, a local resident said.
Odisha Government, on the other hand, claimed that all the prescribed guidelines by the MCI have been complied and a report has been submitted to the Centre.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had, during his meeting with Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, urged for letter of permission (LOP) for the two medical colleges at Baripada and Koraput for starting the first batch of admission from 2017-18 session.
Another reminder in this regard was also sent by the State Government on April 27 for MCI inspection and LOP.
“Till now we have not got any recommendation from MCI. We are waiting for further communication from Government of India regarding admissions by May end,” said Health Secretary Pramod Meherda.
A directive issued by the medical body said doctors have to adhere to prescribe low cost generic drugs instead of writing brand names while prescribing medicines, failing which they would be liable for strict disciplinary actions.
All the deans, principals, state medical council presidents have been intimated in this regard.
The MCI has also stated that medicos should follow its earlier 2016 notification in which it had amended Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations of 2002.
This was revealed during a review meeting presided over by chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat here today.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Health and Family Welfare minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said a site has been identified in Keonjhar while the tendering process has already started. “Construction of the proposed medical college building will start after the tender is finalised”, he added.
The minister further said for construction of medical college in Keonjhar, the state government will arrange money from district mineral fund.
Nayak also said in Kalahandi, the land has been identified for the medical college. As decided, the Vedanta Group will provide financial assistance for the construction of the medical college while the remaining works will be taken up by the state government.
The minister, who attended the governing body meeting of the Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre in Cuttack later in the day, told media persons that construction of the second campus of the Centre will start very soon for which the 60 acres of land has been identified on the outskirts of Cuttack city.
“Besides, it was decided in the meeting that construction of a new building inside the existing Centre would begin very soon for which Rs 27 crore has been earmarked. This apart, efforts are on to set up an ICU inside its premises”, he added.
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The minister also informed that the state government has requested the Medical Council of India (MCI) to give permission for opening PG Courses on Oncology. “We hope that the MCI will visit the Centre very soon and give permission so that more doctors would be appointed”, he noted.
Asked about the proposal of the state government to provide free cancer treatment to poor and needy patients, Nayak said a decision has been taken to set up cancer detection and screening centres in seven district headquarters hospitals and provide free chemo medicines to the patients.
In a recent order, MCI has decided to put admission to 100 seats each in the Hi-Tech Medical College in Rourkela and Sardar Rajas Medical College at Jaring in Kalahandi district and 50 seats in Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Bhubaneswar, on hold on grounds of lack of required infrastructure.
Apart from Singh, those held include Santosh Kumar, a lower division clerk in MCI, and two private persons Susheel Kumar and Sachin Kumar. They were arrested from Delhi.
The suspects were produced before a city court which sent them to a five-day Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody.
The agency also conducted searches at nine places in Delhi, Chennai and Puducherry, including Singh's Anuj Vihar residence here, and recovered Rs 2 crore in cash along with some incriminating documents.
Santosh Kumar's residence hereand a private medical college was also raided.
Singh, who is empanelled as 'assessor' in the MCI, was about to receive Rs 10 lakh bribe through two hawala operators.
Susheel Kumar, resident of Sagarpur in west Delhi, was caught while taking the Rs 10 lakh from the two hawala operators at Chandni Chowk as alleged gratification on behalf of both public servants.
The CBI move comes two days after it registered a case against the suspects under charges of Prevention of Corruption Act and criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code.
The four arrested were allegedly running a racket of leaking sensitive information related to inspections, recognition of courses, number of seats and other similar administrative matters being dealt with by the MCI with regard to various medical colleges and institutions.
The chairman of Sri Venkateshwara Medical College Hospital and Research Centre in Puducherry, B. Ramachandhiran, has also been named as an accused by the CBI in its FIR registered on Saturday.
In its FIR, the CBI said "reliable information was received that Santosh Kumar was in regular contact with B. Ramachandhiran for sharing sensitive information and helping them with respect to some administrative matter regarding inspections and approvals related to the aforesaid medical college being dealt with by the MCI".
"Santosh Kumar was also in touch with Colonel Ajay Kumar Singh of the AMC who is empanelled as an Assessor with the MCI for inspecting various medical colleges," it said, adding both were in regular touch with Ramachandhiran, had personal meetings in this regard and demanded illegal gratification for rendering support and providing information at regular intervals.
The FIR claimed Ramachandhiran had delivered one instalment of the bribe to the duo recently.
"Singh and Kumar again contacted Ramachandhiran and demanded remaining illegal gratification to them in lieu of showing favour by way of providing the aforesaid information and to provide help in inspections," the FIR stated.
"They are engaging with the owners or management of these medical institutions for obtaining huge periodical illegal gratification," it added.
Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association and others have assailed two amended provisions of MCI’s Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, which provide the criteria for granting quota or incentive marks to government doctors, either serving or have served in rural or remote areas, in admissions to PG courses. It was submitted that instead of granting incentive marks to government doctors, serving in remote and difficult rural areas, in PG admissions, the state government should be allowed to continue with its own quota policy.
“We are unable to accede to the request,” a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said. The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, said the counselling process for admissions in PG courses would go on as per the MCI regulations and its final verdict will decide the fate of admisisons. Earlier, the court had reserved its interim order on a batch of petitions challenging the MCI’s regulations dealing with reservation to in-service candidates in admission to the PG medical courses in respect of 50 per cent seats allocated to states.
The doctors’ association of Tamil Nadu had assailed Regulation 9(IV), which says the reservation of seats in medical colleges for respective categories in PG courses shall be as per applicable laws of the states and UTs and an all-India and state-wise merit list of the eligible candidates shall be prepared on the basis of marks obtained by them in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
The regulation provided that doctors in government service may be given weightage as an incentive of up to 10 per cent of the marks obtained for each year of service in “remote and/or difficult areas or rural areas upto maximum of 30 per cent” of the marks obtained in NEET.
Regulation VIII, however, provides for 50 per cent reservation in seats in PG Diploma courses for government doctors. The doctors association had alleged that though 50 per cent quota for in-service doctors are allowed in diploma courses, the system of grant of incentive marks is adopted for granting admissions in PG courses.
They alleged that the power of “the coordination and determination of standards in institutions for higher education” falls in the Union List and the fact that “medical education” comes under Concurrent List implies that states are not denuded of powers to legislate on the manner and method for admissions to PG medical courses.
Senior advocate Arvind Datar, representing Tamil Nadu doctors’s body, had referred to judgements and constitutional schemes and said that a state was empowered to devise mechanism to allocate 50 per cent of its seats to candidates.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for MCI, had said the state cannot be allowed to “lower” the standard of selection of candidates by flouting the MCI regulations. He had sought to distinguish between the PG diploma courses and the PG courses and submitted that there was no need to pass any interim order. Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi, representing the Centre, had said the issue fell under “exclusive domain” of the Union and the state cannot legislate on it. Few days ago, a three judge bench headed by Justice Kurian Joseph had referred to a constitution bench the pleas, challenging the MCI regulations.
NEET conducts examination for admissions in Medical PG courses and 50 per cent seats are filled by the Centre and 50 per cent seats are filled by the states which may give incentive marks up to 30 per cent to government doctors who are serving in rural and remote areas. Tamil Nadu and some states are seeking autonomy to decide the manner in which they would fill up their 50 per cent seats by devising norms on quota and challenge the MCI regulations to that effect.
“We are a leading technological institute but do not have enough experience in the making of a medical research institute and hospital. So after detailed consultations with planning bodies of reputed medical institutes who have the knowhow, we shall pursue the matter seriously," Chairman of the Board of Governors of NIT Rourkela, Santrupta Mishra said.
Mishra said the authorities will not be able to comment anything on the issue at least until June 2019.
After getting a proposal from the Union Health Department, we tried to move ahead with intent to set up the medical college but realised that not only norms pertaining to funds, infrastructure, faculty, regulation as per the Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines have to be fulfilled, but also there are far more issues legally as well.
Clarifying further, Mishra said “We are operating under the NIT-Act and so, whether establishing a medical college would be permissible remains to be seen. Since it is a matter of discussion at the parliament level we will have to wait and see.”
Earlier last week, a controversy surfaced over the issue amid conflicting directives of the Union Health and the Human Resource Development ministries.
While, the Health ministry had in April wrote to the director of NIT-Rourkela to submit a project proposal for establishment of a medical college and hospital with advanced research facility at the institution, no application was submitted by the institution citing lack of infrastructure for the purpose after a letter from the HRD Ministry stated that the since the institute comes under the NIT Act they are not authorized to award medical degrees.
According to official sources, the admissions have been allowed for 100 seats each in Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital at Koraput, Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital at Baripada, Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital at Balangir and Fakir Mohan Medical College and Hospital in Balasore.
While this will be the second batch for Balasore and Bolangir medical colleges; Koraput and Baripada colleges would carry out admissions for the third batch.
The MCI has granted the permission for admission to MBBS course of the colleges for the current academic year 2019-20. The permission is valid for a period of one year and would be renewed on yearly basis by the MCI.
The next batch of students will be admitted after renewal of permissions by the MCI, sources said.
With the admission approval to the four colleges, the total number of medical seats in the seven government medical colleges in Odisha has gone up to 1150.
The salient features have been provided below:
The Common final year MBBS exam to be known as National Exit Test (NEXT) would serve as licentiate exam, for entrance to PG medical courses and as screening test for foreign medical graduates.
The Bill provides that the national entrance test i.e. NEET, common counselling and NEXT shall also be applicable to Institutes of National Importance (INIs) like AIIMS to have common standards in the country.
The Commission will regulate fee and all other charges for 5o% seats in private medical colleges and deemed universities.
The Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) will conduct assessment to the medical college and develop a system of ranking of medical colleges which would enable the students to choose the medical college wisely.
These measures will ensure a transparent admission process and also bring down admission fee.
Implementation:
National Medical Commission will have four Autonomous Boards, namely Under-Graduate Medical Education Board, Post-Graduate Medical Education Board, Medical Assessment and Rating Board and Ethics and Medical Registration Board.
NMC and the respective Boards will ensure a dynamic and modern educational environment, decreasing the emphasis on physical infrastructure, achieving the norms in global standards and an effective grievance redressal mechanism.
Greater representation to elected members through State Medical Councils has been provided in the Medical Advisory Council and the Commission.
The strength of Autonomous Boards has been increased from 3 to 5 and it includes 2 part-time members. One of them will be a doctor selected by the Government and the other will be an elected doctor from State Medical Council.
The Medical Assessment and Rating Board will grant permission for new medical colleges, starting of PG course and increase of seats based on the standards set by the UG and PG Boards.
The annual renewal permission for new medical colleges before recognition is being done away with.
The bill that seeks to repeal the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 was passed by a voice vote, amid a walkout by AIADMK.
The Lok Sabha on July 29 had passed the National Medical Commission Bill 2019.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, in his reply, on the debate on the bill said NEET is already an institutionalised body which is conducting examinations in 13 languages.
"Once the NMC Bill is approved, exit examination will be implemented in the next three years," the Minister said.
The Minister said NEET Counselling is completely transparent and thanked senior Congress leader Ghulab Nabi Azad for his valuable suggestions.
The bill also has a provision for making national standards in medical education uniform by proposing that the final year MBBS exam be treated as an entrance test for PG and a screening test for students who graduate in medicine from foreign countries.
This exam, called the National Exit Test (NEXT), would ensure that the proposed National Medical Commission (NMC) moves away from a system of repeated inspections of infrastructure and focuses on outcomes rather than processes, Vardhan said.
A fine of Rs 25,000 was also slapped on each of them. An FIR will also be lodged against these seven students, sources said. Besides, a penalty of Rs 5,000 was imposed on all 150 students of the 2018 batch. The decision was taken on Saturday.
The university suspended a hostel superintendent, besides removing the Dean of Students' Welfare, and sacking the security personnel who were on duty on the fateful day.
In another development, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also summoned Vice Chancellor Raj Kumar for an urgent meeting.
The UPUMS had earlier denied the incident and had even justified ragging as a part of tradition and 'manner building'. However, as media pressure built up, it finally admitted to the incident and initiated action.
On Tuesday last week, around 150 first-year students were forced to tonsure their heads and march on the campus by their seniors.
The Medical Council of India (MCI) issued a show-cause notice to the Vice Chancellor over the alleged incident of ragging of first-year MBBS students, who were made to shave their heads and salute their seniors.
The council had warned the institution of a Rs 1.5 crore penalty if it failed to respond within 24 hours.
A probe by the district magistrate confirmed that ragging had taken place after which the university authorities also admitted to the incident.
The university dean said that action against employees of the institute was taken due to their carelessness, as they did not inform the administration. The security guards, who were on duty on the fateful day, have been terminated, he added.
Besides, the superintendent of Sakyamuni hostel, where the first-year students live, has been suspended till the completion of the inquiry.
Currently, students pursuing undergraduate medical courses are attached to primary health centres or urban health centres for three months as part of a compulsory rotating internship.
The BoG has written to the Health Ministry to develop guidelines for implementation of the proposal for postgraduate students in partnership with it and the state governments. It has also sought that this provision comes into force from the next academic session.
"The move is aimed at providing practical experience to future specialists in real-life setting of the country's public health system. Also, this will help address shortage of specialist doctors in district hospitals of rural and remote areas, and help strengthen services at such hospitals," a senior government official said.
The note sent to the Union Health Ministry said all postgraduate students shall undertake a rotation in designated district hospitals/health system for a period of three months as a part of the course curriculum.
For postgraduate students of community medicine, the requirement can be posting at primary health centres and field experience in addition to activities at the district hospital.
"Satisfactory completion of this rotation shall be an essential condition before the candidate is allowed to appear in the final examination of the respective postgraduate course. The Ministry of Health is requested to develop guidelines for the scheme in partnership with the state government and BoG in three months," it read.
For the purpose of the proposed programme, a district hospital will be defined broadly as a functional public sector or publicly-funded hospital of about 200 beds or more, with facilities for specified specialities, designated by the Centre or state governments.
Medical colleges, both government as well as private, will place their post-graduates at the disposal of the government for rotation/posting for the duration of the course.
According to the note, the rotation will be provisionally termed 'District Residency Programme' and the postgraduate student undergoing this posting will be termed as 'District Resident'.
Suitable guidelines for this rotation of postgraduate students of subjects such as Community Medicine, Forensic Medicine and pre-para clinical disciplines will be developed in commensurate with their curricula and training needs.
"Ensuring training of doctors in varied settings of health system is a well-recognised principle in medical education. This (proposal) exposes the future physicians and specialists to diverse clinical materials.
"District hospitals represent the backbone of the country's secondary level public healthcare providing speciality care. These hospitals are closer to people than most medical colleges, and are a overwhelming source of services for the people, rural and urban alike," a senior government official said.
As part of the suggested plan for implementation of the proposal, the BoG said the District Residency Programme may be coordinated by the Directorate General of Health Services and the role will include preparing an annual roster for placement of the batch of postgraduate students. The states with surplus postgraduate students supply may be clustered with supply-deficient states.
The new Regulation shall be applicable to all new medical colleges proposing to be established, and to the established medical colleges proposing to increase their annual MBBS intake from the academic year 2021-22. During the transitory period, the established medical colleges will be governed by the relevant regulations existing prior to the current notification.
The new standards have been defined keeping the functional requirements of the institution(s). These allow optimization and flexibility in utilizing available resources, and harnessing modern educational technology tools to facilitate moving towards quality education, even when resources are relatively scarce.
Major step towards Medical Education reform.
NMC notifies “Minimum Requirements for Annual MBBS Admissions Regulations (2020)”.https://t.co/biPsTwO9jn@PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @PIB_India @DDNewslive @airnewsalerts @NITIAayog
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) October 31, 2020
The key changes:
The new Regulation has deleted the quantum of land required for setting up a medical college and its affiliated teaching hospitals (all buildings are expected to conform to existing building bye-laws). The notification defines the minimum requirements of space for all student centric areas in the institution and the functional areas required.
The Standards outlines the sharing of all available teaching spaces by all departments (compared to the inflexibility in the regulations so far) thereby mandating all teaching spaces to be enabled for e-learning and also digitally linked to one another (it was only desirable earlier).
Under the new Regulation, a well-equipped “Skills Laboratory” for training students is essential now. It also defines a Medical Education Unit for training medical teachers in educational pedagogy. The space required for Library and the number of books and journals have been rationalized and reduced. Student counselling services has been mandated recognizing the increasing stress observed amongst medical students and residents in recent times.
Recognizing that a well-functioning hospital is at the core of medical training, the new regulation now mandates the availability of a fully functional 300 bed multi-speciality hospital for at least 2 years at the time of application for establishing a new medical college (the earlier regulations did not specify the period of functionality).
The beds required in the various departments of the teaching hospital have been rationalized to align with the annual student intake, teaching time to be spent in the clinical specialties and the minimum clinical material required for undergraduate medical training which has resulted in about 10% reduction in teaching bed needs compared to the earlier regulations.
The human resource of teaching faculty has also been rationalized in the new Regulation. Over and above the minimum prescribed faculty, provision for “visiting faculty” has been made to enhance quality of training.
Two new teaching departments have now become mandatory in all medical college hospitals for the training of undergraduate medical students. These include the Department of Emergency Medicine (which has replaced the earlier Casualty Department) and will ensure access and prompt, appropriate response to emergencies particularly trauma; and the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation which shall fill a large gap for those in need of comprehensive rehabilitative care.
The Regulation has also outlined “desirable” and “aspirational” goals beyond the minimum requirements stated in the standards so as to stimulate medical institutions to strive for excellence. These elements will be utilized by the National Medical Commission while rating the medical institutions in the country.
(With PIB Inputs)
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