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- The MCI will issue new regulations that will be applicable to all government and private medical colleges to introduce PG medical colleges.
- Over 10,000 additional postgraduate seats are expected in the next four years.
With an aim to mitigate the severe shortage of specialist doctors in the country, the central government has directed all the medical colleges (that do not offer PG medical courses) in India to introduce Post Graduate (PG) medical courses from the academic session 2020-21. Similarly, the new medical colleges can start offering PG courses within three years of recognition. If everything progresses as per plan, over 10,000 additional postgraduate seats are expected in the next four years.
Within the next three years, if the colleges fail to introduce PG courses, they will have no other option except to lose recognition. An official notification in this regard will be issued by the Medical Council of India (MCI) on April 05, 2018. Recently, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare proposed some significant amendments to Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations (PGMER) 2000. The new regulations will be applicable to both government and private medical colleges.
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At present, medical colleges across the country offer 38,000 PG medical seats . However, the existing number of medical seats does not meet the demand of specialist doctors as 68,000 MBBS graduates complete their course every year.
A senior official of Health Ministry pointed that there are several medical colleges in India, which offer only UG medical courses. Instead of investing money in constructing expensive buildings, these colleges can focus on improving existing infrastructure to introduce PG medical colleges. For instance, a new medical college will require at least Rs. 4 crores to create a PG medical seat, while it costs around Rs. 1.2 crores in existing medical colleges. Therefore, existing medical colleges must consider these aspects and introduce PG courses, he explained.
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The colleges that would like to start PG courses must apply for MCI for recognition. The council will inspect the college and infrastructure to grant recognition. These medical colleges will have to pass the inspection within three attempts to retain recognition. If the government does not impose strict rules, these colleges will not introduce PG courses. Therefore, the government is left with no other option except to come up with mandatory rules.
Experts hailed the move of the central government but cautioned that monitoring the quality of doctors produced by these colleges is equally imperative.
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