NEW DELHI: In a bid to substantially increase PG seats in medical colleges, the medical education regulator has approved a proposal to attach district hospitals with government colleges and use the infrastructure and beds in hospitals to train post-graduate doctors.
The Medical Council of India-Board of Governors has now asked states to send proposals specifying the names of district hospitals that can be attached with medical colleges in the vicinity to provide PG doctors with clinical training.
There are nearly 28,295 PG seats on offer in medical colleges at present. In addition, some major hospitals are allowed to provide 3-year DNB training to doctors, which is considered equivalent to post-graduation.
“The decision to use beds in district hospitals for increased intake of PG students in medical colleges has been taken after thorough deliberation,” MCI-BOG chairman V K Paul said.
“Unless we take out-of-t measures like this, increasing PG seats to fill the large gap between MBBS and MS/MD seats will not be possible.”
He also clarified that the initiative has been planned in addition to the Union Ministry of Health and Family project of upgrading 82 districts hospitals into medical colleges by 2022.
Not everybody, however, sounded enthused about the plan. A senior faculty at AIIMS, New Delhi said that the move is rather “artificial.”
“It’s important to raise the PG seats in medical colleges but to attach district hospitals with colleges in order to grant new seats seems a rushed and poorly thought idea,” he said.
“Demography at district hospitals and medical colleges are also different and it will affect the quality of training PG doctors are expected to have.”
Goal to raise post-graduation seats
The number of MBBS seats in India has now reached nearly 79,000, which is over double the number of MS/MD seats. The government is hoping to take the number of PG seats to at least 60,000 by 2024.