Govt speculates six-and-a-half year MBBS

Updated on: Monday, February 06, 2012

Government of India plans to reconstitute MBBS course into six-and-a-half years, instead of the present five-and-a-half years.

The Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the Medical Council of India (MCI) held discussions on amending the MCI Act that would make a one-year rural posting compulsory for all MBBS students before they can become doctors.

Former health minister A Ramadoss first mooted the proposal in 2007.

However, it is still in the planning stages and no any concrete decisions have come out. Probably, in another two weeks time, a module would come out on how MBBS doctors can be made to go and work in rural areas.

India is facing an acute shortage of human resources in health - the sting of which is being faced by the flagship NRHM, and the vulnerable population in rural, tribal and hilly areas is extremely underserved.

As per a study conducted by the Planning Commission, the country is short of six lakh doctors, 10 lakh nurses and 2 lakh dental surgeons, leading to a dismal doctor-patient ratio.

According to the incentive, MBBS doctors who underwent rural service would sit for the PG exam with an added advantage - they would have 10-30 marks guaranteed.

Azad had said those MBBS students who did one year of rural service would get 10 marks as additional weightage while those who did three years in the country's most backward areas would get 30 marks.

He also said 50% seats in PG diploma courses would be reserved for medical officers in government service who had served for at least three years in remote and difficult areas.

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