NMC Introduces Minimum Standard Requirements For Postgraduate Courses In Medical Colleges

As per the new guidelines, faculty members in medical colleges will be required to have a minimum of 75% attendance and shall be prohibited from private practice during college hours.

NMC Issues Minimum Standard Requirements For Medical Colleges (Representational Image)

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The National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued a set of guidelines notifying the minimum set of requirements for medical colleges across the country seeking to start postgraduate medical programmes. Minimum Standard of Requirements for Postgraduate Courses-2023 (PGMSR-2023),” the set of guidelines also underline new norms pertaining to the establishment of new medical institutions in the country, starting new medical courses, increasing seats in existing medical programmes, as well as assessment and rating regulations, 2023. 

As per the commission, the guidelines issued by the  Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), National Medical Commission, are set to be implemented with immediate effect. Some of the key highlights of the PGMSR-2023 are as follows:

1. Medical institutions which offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes shall adhere to the minimum requirements for undergraduate training as underlined by the Under-Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) in the UG-MSR document. Moreover, these institutions would also be required to fulfill additional requirements for postgraduate training. 
2. Hospitals in such institutions must adhere to the national building norms and also comply with local regulations pertaining to hospital buildings. The hospitals should also obtain all relevant clearances and approvals from respective administrative bodies of the state and central governments. 
3. Throughout the year, 80% of the hospital beds must be occupied with inpatients. Moreover, 15% of the total number of hospital beds in the respective departments concerned with imparting postgraduate medical training should exclusively be either Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds or High Dependency Unit (HDU) beds.
4. If there is an increase in the overall facilities like infrastructure, faculty, and staff, in departments like Radio-diagnosis, Anaesthesia, Pathology, Microbiology, and Biochemistry, the increase should be proportional to the increase in the number of total hospital beds in the respective department. 
5. Department shall rope in full-time faculty members who shall be completely prohibited from private practice during college hours. Moreover, faculty members will be required to have a minimum of 75% attendance. 
6. Departments will also be required to equip themselves with well-equipped and air-conditioned blood banks capable of providing component therapy. 
7. Each department should have a well-equipped teaching room with audio-visual facilities, and should comfortably house an adequate number of students for case discussions and demonstrations. 
8. For postgraduate training, each department should have an adequate number of imaging facilities and in-house laboratories. The imaging facilities should be in line with the latest diagnostic technologies and interventions. 
9. Departments should also be equipped with a departmental library housing all essential books and journals as required by the curriculum. 
10. There should also be a digital directory of departmental information, activities, facilities, courses, programmes, and other details. A digital repository of records shall also be maintained to keep a track of investigations done in respective laboratories.