Recently, the Board of Governors of the MCI has come up with a new proposal which will create a huge wave of changes in the present Undergraduate Medical course curriculum. This was made with the intention to help and lend a hand to nurture medical professionals with the required set of competencies and skills.

MCI

The Medical Council of India’s aim is to increase the number of graduate in the medical field and also bring up the quality of education. The major changes will be implemented in the curriculum and the training methods. The Board of governors has recommended the formation of an Indian Medical Graduate. The candidates who are under this listing must be capable and competent enough to realize the concerned role which one should take-up as a health care provider.

The Medical Council of India is aiming to craft Graduates who have the efficiency to fulfill the position of clinician, person in charge, conversationalist and enduring learner, and be a professional expert with key set of competencies. As for getting the title of Indian Medical Graduate, the candidates will have to qualify in the written exam or the licentiate exam after an internship for receiving the licensing. This license will help them to practice any were in the country.

This will be implemented through the National-level exit exam. This exam is anticipated to lay down standards for doctors. The Medical Council of India has also put forward a new recommendation, which had lead to the introduction of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test? This exam will introduce from 2012 onwards. The licentiate system, if accepted, would be discretionary between 2012 and 2016, but will be mandatory criterion thereon.

The Medical Council of India is also planning to set up a 2 month long introductory course for the students who have secured admission to the MBBS course. This is proposed with an aim to prepare all the students to learn and understand medicine effectively. The introductory course will help all the students to get familiarized in the present national health scenarios, medical moral values, and health economics, learning proficiency and communication, biohazard and environment safety measures.

New curriculum for horizontal and vertical integration

This innovative curriculum has been prepared to eliminate the gaps which currently exist between theory and practice. In the initial year, the course curriculum will focus more towards the basics and laboratory sciences. At the same time, the changes bought along in the second and third years include more focused and structured clinical exposure and learning. Clinical training will be provided to the students in the first year and the focal point will be more towards common problems seen in outpatients and emergency situation.

Prominently, an ‘optional’ subject has been further added to the ‘core’ subjects.  The subject option comprises of clinical electives, lab exposure and or community experience. Previously these areas were not usually exposed by the students as part of the normal curriculum. The modernized curriculum would give emphasis to clinical exposure, incorporation of basic and clinical sciences, clinical proficiency and skills and innovative teaching and learning methodologies. These changes are expected to bring about a new generation of graduates of international standards.

New programs being proposed

A novel 2 year Master of Medicine (M. Med.) program is also being proposed. The M. Med will be more or less focused on skill development of the students. MBBS Degree holders will be qualified to tutor undergraduate courses. There will be no entrance exam for joining the M. Med course. The candidates will be assessed on the basis of the performance throughout the program and the National-Level Exit Exam.

The students who have opted to go for an M. Med course are given five options from which they can select any one of the doctorate streams depending on the ability and professional ambition. After completing the M. Med course, each of the graduates can also complete either or both Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery programs. The candidates who have undergone 6 months of rural service during the M. Med course will also be endowed with a 5 % weight age.

After completing the MBBS course the students can go for a two year course. An additional one more year will lead to an MD degree. The candidate can have an option of dual specialization if they invest an additional one more year. Later on the candidate can go on for a fellowship Program or a Ph.D program. The Medical Council of India is also planning to consider the suggestion to cut down the MBBS program to 4 years from the 4 ½ years.

Mixed response to the new proposals

The Medical Council of India suggestions have stirred up a mixed reaction amongst various academicians. Specialists have recommended that the council must not move ahead and put into practice the above mentioned proposals in a hurry.

The suggestions to put together subjects like forensic medicine, ophthalmology and ENT as an optional subject are not sensible. Students must develop the basic essential knowledge in these areas of medicine. The assessment to persuade clinical orientation in the core curriculum and endorse inter-disciplinary studies is also welcomed. Circumstantially, the licentiate examination will help in blocking the dissimilar standards in use for the evaluation of the graduates from different parts of the country. Additional efforts must be made to admit all those who meet the criteria of the licentiate exam for postgraduate programs.

At present, there are less than 12, 000 seats for Post Graduate programs in opposition to the 60,000 intake for Under Graduate courses. Candidates will be more or less satisfied if they are able to get a chance to carry on with the postgraduate degree. The M. Med. course will help all aspirants to get a Post Graduate degree. The Council must take intense care as to ensure enough seats in swing with the current intake of students for the MBBS program.

Emphasis on practical training

A lot more focus on practical training

Students in India have to go through tough examinations before joining to the MBBS courses. They are faced with clinical examinations and practicals, right from the initial stages of the course. But in UK and US, this is not practices, as students are not allowed to examine patients while learning. They perform these tasks mostly on dummies. For the Indian students this is actually an advantage, as they will have a chance to learn and develop their diagnosis skills through this real time practical’s, even if they are not directly involved.