NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) on Monday announced that postgraduate diploma medical courses will be phased out in the country and will be replaced with degree programmes like MD and MS.
In a public notice, NMC said, 2026-27 academic year will be the last year for admissions to postgraduate diploma medical courses.
“No admissions shall be permitted to PG diploma courses from academic year 2027-28 onwards, and such courses shall cease to be functional thereafter,” the notice said.
The NMC also requested all the medical colleges/institutions presently conducting PG Diploma courses and intending to convert such courses to corresponding PG Degree courses (MD/MS) to submit applications to the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB).
The NMC announcement came after the Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), which determines education at the PG and super speciality level, issued a notice in this regard on June 19.
It said that the NMC has observed that several medical colleges/institutions are presently conducting both Post Graduate Diploma as well as Post Graduate Degree (MD/MS) courses in the same speciality, while some institutions are conducting only Diploma courses in certain specialities.
“In many such cases, the institutions may already possess the requisite infrastructure, faculty, clinical material, and other resources that may facilitate conversion of Diploma courses to Degree courses, subject to fulfilment of applicable regulatory requirements,” it added.
“In order to standardize postgraduate medical education, enhance the quality and recognition of specialist training, align postgraduate qualifications with contemporary educational standards, and optimize utilization of existing institutional capacity, the Commission has decided that all Post Graduate Diploma courses shall be phased out, and converted to Postgraduate Broad Specialty Degree courses (MD/MS),” said C K. Ramaswamy, Director, PGMEB.
The notice also directed all the medical colleges/institutions conducting PG Diploma courses and intending to convert such courses to corresponding PG Degree courses (MD/MS) to submit applications to the MARB in the prescribed format through the online portal.
The NMC asked all medical colleges and institutions to comply with the directions.
