NMC releases Minimum Standard Requirements for running PG medical courses, Here are Key Takeaways
New Delhi: Through a recent notice, the Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) released the final Post-graduate Minimum Standard Requirements 2024 (PGMSR-2023), which lays down the conditions for the medical institutes across the country to be able to offer PG medical courses.
The PG Board of NMC finalized the PGMSR 2024 under Section 25 (1) (a), (c), (d), and (e) of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, Regulation 10 of the Establishment of New Medical Institutions, Starting of New Medical Courses, Increase of Seats for Existing Courts and Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023 and Section 3.4 of the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023.
As per Section 3.4 of PGMER 2023, all the medical institutes starting PG medical courses would have to satisfy the conditions regarding the physical infrastructure, teaching staff, clinical material, and hospital as detailed in the MSR document.
"These guidelines will come into force with immediate effect," the NMC PG Board mentioned in the Public Notice issued on 23.08.2024.
Last year also, NMC PGMEB had specified the minimum standard requirements for the PG medical courses by releasing the PGMSR 2023. The new MSR document i.e. PGMSR 2024 specifies the minimum requirements for the medical institutes imparting both undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses, requirements regarding faculty strength, bed occupancy, clinical material workload, ratio of eligible post-graduate faculty to students, number of minimum and maximum beds in a Unit, faculty, and senior resident requirements for the number of PG seats in different specialities, the list of functional departments mandatory in a specific medical college etc.
The key takeaways from the PGMSR 2024 are as follows:
The document mentions that an institute conducting both undergraduate and post-graduate teaching shall have to satisfy the minimum requirement for undergraduate training as prescribed by UGMEB in UG-MSR document and shall also fulfill additional requirements for post-graduate training.
It mentioned that the following requirements will be fulfilled by all the post-graduate medical institutes, including PG institutes-
√ The hospital building shall conform to the existing national building norms and various local statutory regulations for hospitals taking into consideration the requirements of the hospital as a service provider including administration, registration, records storage, out-patient and inpatient areas, operating theaters, Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD), Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Radiology and laboratory services, emergency areas, etc.
It further mentioned that mandatory regulatory/ licensing approvals and all statutory requirement/clearances should have been obtained from the appropriate administrative authorities /State Government/ Central Government/ Pollution Control Board/Municipal Corporations/ Councils etc.
√ As per PGMSR 2024, along with the increase in the number of beds in the hospital, there should be an increase in the number of faculty, infrastructure and other staff in subjects of Radio-diagnosis, Anaesthesia, Pathology, Microbiology, and Biochemistry. The number of faculty and infrastructure should be increased as well if the workload in the Department is more.
√ NMC further specified that the departments shall have adequate number of latest in-house equipments and training facilities as per curriculum requirement, run by the respective departments for the training of post-graduate students. The departments shall have digital library and seminar hall with wellequipped high speed internet, Wi-Fi connected media room to have direct relay from in-house operation theaters and also to conduct or attend global scientific live programmes.
√ At least 80 per cent of the hospital beds should be occupied throughout the year by patients requiring inpatient care.
√ A minimum of 15 per cent of the total beds in the Department imparting post-graduate training should be Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds/High Dependency Unit (HDU) beds exclusively of that Department.
√ There shall be adequate space and sufficient number of examination cubicles available in the Out-Patient Department.
√ There shall be one teaching room for each teaching department with a capacity to accommodate adequate number of students for clinical case discussions/ demonstrations. Each such room shall have audio-visual facilities.
√ The institution shall have adequate in-house laboratory and imaging facilities for the training of post-graduate students, which should be fully run by the respective department. Laboratories shall provide all the investigative facilities required and shall be regularly updated keeping in view the advancement of knowledge, science and technology and for research requirements.
√ Imaging facilities shall be contemporary and in keeping with the latest technology available for diagnosis and interventions. These facilities shall be run by the Radio-diagnosis department.
√ There shall be digital data of records, details with address, ABHA ID, all OP, IP, Deliveries, surgeries, procedures, admission, discharge, birth, death and MRD with ICD classification, investigation done in various Departments/Laboratories etc.
√ There shall be a Departmental Library with essential books and journals as per curriculum requirements.
√ There shall be a well-equipped air-conditioned Blood Bank capable of providing component therapy. The Blood Bank and Blood transfusion services should conform to the guidelines of the National AIDS Control Organization and as prescribed in Schedule-F Part XII-B to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 amended from time to time. The Blood Transfusion services should be under the administrative control of the Department of Pathology of the medical college when there is no separate Department of Immuno hematology and Blood Transfusion
√ Faculty shall be full-time and shall not engage in private practice during college hours. It shall be mandatory to have at least 75 per cent attendance of the total working days for the required number of faculties.
√ Close Circuit Camera: Every medical college shall have prescribed number of cameras at the prescribed locations of cameras with Close Circuit Cameras, as prescribed by the National Medical Commission.
√ College Website: Every college /institute shall have its own website which shall display the details of Departments with available facilities, faculty with contact details, PG courses along with number of seats, details of the admitted students and number of OPD, IPD and Surgeries etc. for each Department separately.
Specific additional requirements for the standalone PG institutes:
As per PGMSR 2024, the Post-graduate medical colleges/institutes started under Section 3.1(iii) of PGMER-23 (Standalone post-graduate medical college/institute) shall have minimum 220 beds and shall mandatorily have the following functional Departments:
a) Biochemistry
b) Pathology
c) Microbiology
d) Radio-Diagnosis
e) Anaesthesiology (When there is surgical speciality)
Such post-graduate medical college/institution shall have facilities for teaching the basic science subjects as per requirements.
Other Requirements:
√ All patients should have ABHA IDs. However, treatment should not be denied to any patient for want of ABHA ID.
√ All the faculty, Senior Residents and Junior Residents shall mark their attendance on AEBAS as per the guidelines issued by National Medical Commission from time to time.
√ While considering fresh cases for starting a new PG course and for increase of annual intake, maximum of four seats will be permitted in a non-government medical college/institution.
√ One Post-Doctoral Certificate Course (PDCC)/ Post-Doctoral Fellowship (PDF) student can be admitted over and above the sanctioned/eligible seat in a Unit. Department where Unit structure is not there, one additional seat can be permitted per every five sanctioned/eligible seats. If there is any vacancy, then remaining number of PDCC/PDF candidates can be admitted.
√ All the Departments where in-patient beds are required, shall maintain computerized master register of patients mentioning the diagnosis, ABHA ID, etc. every day at 10 AM and should be authenticated by faculty.
√ The faculty who has been counted for determining the number of seats for admission will not be counted in another Institute for that academic year if he leaves the Institute.
√ Number of critically ill patients requiring invasive ventilator support in the hospital and department, total number of hemodialysis performed, total numbers of birth in the hospital, total number of death in hospital, total number of blood ( including blood components) consumed in the hospital and department and total number of major surgeries done in hospital and department will be considered as corroborative information as and when required for judging clinical workload in the institute for training students.
Apart from this, the PGMSR 2024 document also includes the clinical material/investigation workload required for post-graduate training, Ratio of eligible post-graduate faculty to the number of students, number of minimum and maximum beds in a Unit, faculty and senior resident requirements for number of post-graduate seats in different specialities as per Annexure-I, Annexure-II and Annexure-III.
Quantification of the Clinical Material/Investigation Workload Required for Post-Graduate Courses in Specialities:
Clinical material/ investigation workload required for post-graduate courses shall be as per curriculum requirement in curriculum documents of each speciality as notified by NMC time to time on website, etc. Following are additional general /specific guidelines:
ANNEXURE-II
RATIO OF RECOGNIZED POST-GRADUATE FACULTY TO THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS
(1) The ratio of recognized Post-graduate faculty to the number of students to be admitted for post-graduate broad speciality courses shall be as under:
*** Non-governmental medical college / Medical Institution with 15 years of standing, should have been running the post-graduate course since 10 years.
For Associate Professor- If an Associate Professor fulfils all the eligibility criteria for the post of Professor as laid down in the "Teachers Eligibility Qualifications in Medical Institutions, Regulations" in vogue but has not been promoted.
** Assistant Professor - If an Assistant Professor fulfils all the requirements of post-graduate Guide as per Teachers Eligibility Qualifications in Medical Institutions, Regulations" in vogue, he may be allotted 1(one) post-graduate student.
Counting of Beds:
ICU beds exclusively of the respective Department under its administrative control shall be included in bed strength of the Department.
The number of students to be admitted in case of Post-Graduate degree Super-Speciality courses:
ANNEXURE-III
TABLES SHOWING BEDS AND FACULTY REQUIREMENT FOR NUMBER OF AND POST-GRADUATE SEATS IN DIFFERENT SPECIALITIES
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