Mentor-Mentee Programme, Meeting between institutes and parents: Here's what NMC guidelines suggest to Stop Ragging
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New Delhi: Amidst the concerns regarding the mental health of medical students and the reported instances of ragging and harassment of new students by their seniors, the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) has specified certain efforts to create a healthy environment at the institutes. The measures recommended by the UG Board of NMC include arranging a meeting between the college and parents/wards of all students and carrying out mentor-mentee programmes at the medical colleges.
These recommendations have been added by the UGMEB of the Apex Medical Commission in the recently released Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) 2024 Curriculum.
Meeting with Parents/Wards:
The new CBME 2024 guidelines mention that every college shall arrange for a meeting with the parents/wards of all the students. Further, the Apex Medical Commission specified that the "records of the same shall be made available to UGMEB of NMC."
Mentor-Mentee Programme:
NMC UG Board further mentioned in the guidelines that the medical colleges should carry out the Mentor-mentee programme judiciously. As per the guidelines, there should be 1 Mentor to 3 mentees and these mentors may be selected from all disciplines from the level of Professor/HOD to Assistant professor.
These mentors shall be allotted to their mentees during Phase 1 of the MBBS course itself- specifically during the foundation course. As per the guidelines, the mentee shall stay connected with the Mentor throughout his/her career till the completion of the Compulsory Rotatory Medical Internship (CRMI).
"Mentor- mentee program shall be carried out judiciously, with the ratio of 1 Mentor to 3 mentees. Mentor may be selected from all disciplines from the level of Professor/ HOD to Assistant Professor. Mentor shall be allotted his mentees during the foundation course itself from Phase 1. The mentee shall stay connected with the Mentor throughout his career till he completes CRMI," states the CBME 2024 guidelines.
Further specifying the aim of creating a healthy "sibling environment", instead of ragging, the guidelines added, "Each year when 3 new mentees are added from phase 1 to the mentor, the senior batch students shall support the junior students and create a healthy sibling environment (instead of ragging)."
Mental Health Ailments Among Medical Students:
According to the online survey conducted by a National Medical Commission (NMC) task force, around 28 per cent of MBBS and 15.3 per cent of PG medical students reported having been diagnosed with mental health conditions.
NMC Anti-Ragging Committee had set up the National Task Force to study existing literature and data on the mental health of medical students and propose evidence-based strategies for improving the same.
This Task Force had initiated an online survey, collecting data from medical students, faculties, and administrators regarding mental health history, workload, overall stress level, etc. More than 37,000 medical students had submitted their responses to the government authorities, indicating that they were suffering from mental stress.
After analyzing the data collected from the in-person visit to the medical colleges, the online survey, and the meeting with stakeholders, the Task Force noted that mental health conditions have been diagnosed in 7,115 (27.7%) students, with 3,780 (14.8%) having one condition, 1,851 (7.2%) having two, and 1,045 (4.1%) having three conditions. To ensure the mental health and well-being of medical students, the NMC Task Force has issued several recommendations to the medical colleges across the country.
The survey, which included 25,590 undergraduate students, 5,337 postgraduate students, and 7,035 faculty members, recommended that resident doctors work no more than 74 hours per week, get a weekly one-day off and seven-eight hours of daily sleep.
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