BHUBANESWAR: The State government has decided to regularise PG medical students engaged in management of Covid-19. The move will benefit PG medical officers and dental surgeons of 2017 and 2018 batches. In view of the extraordinary situation due to outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2020, the Medical Council of India (MCI) had issued an advisory for final-year PG students to continue in their respective medical college and hospitals (MCHs) beyond the normal tenure to ensure there is no shortage of residents in handling the pandemic.
Accordingly, the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) instructed the medical colleges to ensure availability of accommodation and payment of stipend to all such final-year postgraduate students during the extended period in 2020 and 2021.
The medical officers and dental surgeons had requested the Health and Family Welfare department for regularisation of extended PG period to facilitate continuity of their service. The Health department has decided that the extended PG period of the medical officers/dental surgeons of 2017 and 2018 batches belonging to the Odisha Medical and Health Service (OMHS) cadre and OMS (Dental) cadre will be treated as duty.