India’s National Medical Commission (NMC) has secured international accreditation from the World Federation of Medical Education (WFME) for a period of ten years. A parliamentary panel stated this accreditation underscores the NMC’s responsibility to strengthen an equitable quality education system and evidence-based practices nationwide.
The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare presented its report to Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The committee observed this accreditation entrusts the NMC with a pivotal role. Its mandate is to consolidate high-quality medical education across the country.
The NMC is tasked with ensuring quality medical education. This aims to foster affordability and accessibility of healthcare for future generations. The panel stressed that only a robust and modern medical education system, coupled with adequate investment in advanced physical infrastructure and skilled faculty, guarantees better future healthcare outcomes.
The panel clarified that international accreditation is not the end of NMC’s role. It marks the beginning of its responsibility to enhance equitable quality education across India. This includes providing due impetus on evidence-based practices, scientific and modern advancement, critical thinking, professional pursuit, ethical integrity, and social behavioral inclination among medical practitioners.
Stagnation in Health Research Funding
The committee expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s response regarding budgetary support for health research. Spending by both government and medical colleges on health research has remained stagnant as a percentage of GDP for the last few financial years. The panel recommended that medical research and innovation require massive impetus.
The panel stated there is an urgent need to substantially increase government expenditure on health research infrastructure. Alternatively, it recommended providing incentives and an ecosystem to collaborate with leading private research firms. To achieve result-oriented and gainful research, the committee reiterated its recommendation: the government should formulate guidelines to decide on priority research fields. These fields must be based on the country’s disease burden and focus areas. For this, colleges can form a collegium of senior faculties to decide research priorities. Funds for such research should be partly provided by the institute and partly by government agencies like ICMR.
Hurdles for Foreign Medical Graduates
A high number of Indian students seek medical admission outside the country due to the vast number of aspiring MBBS students and limited domestic seats. However, these Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) face significant challenges in passing the license examination and while seeking permanent registration across various states.
The Foreign Medical Graduate Regulation, 2021 , mandates one year of compulsory rotating medical internship as additional training. This training must occur in medical education hospitals or large non-teaching hospitals. Since FMGs are useful in maintaining the doctor-to-population ratio, the committee reiterated its recommendation. The FMG Regulations 2021 should act as a facilitator, streamlining registration and internship procedures while keeping quality assurance for the Indian healthcare system.
To improve the doctor-to-population ratio and reduce reliance on foreign medical graduates, the panel stated it would be appropriate for the government to encourage the expansion of medical colleges within the country. This expansion aims to accommodate the education of MBBS aspiring students domestically.
Expansion of Medical Colleges and Standardisation
Reiterating its earlier recommendation, the panel called for the introduction of the National Exit Test (NExT) . NExT aims to instill a universal and standardized assessment of medical graduates. This ensures a uniform level of knowledge and skills, ultimately leading to quality medical education and training across the country. The panel noted NExT represents a paradigm shift in teaching methods, learning approaches, and critical assessment through MBBS courses. It recommended that the committee reconstituted under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog members submit its recommendations as per the pre-conceived schedule.
The committee also reiterated its recommendation that the government should divide India into different zones. In each zone, reputed institutes like AIIMS can function as mentor institutes for all other medical colleges. Mentor institutes shall play a significant role in monitoring the standard of education and classes in newly set medical colleges or private medical colleges.